Answer ... Article 21 of the Hydrocarbons Code and most of the conventions related to exploration permits provide that disputes must be settled through international arbitration, through either the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes or ad hoc arbitration.

Answer ... Disputes in the oil and gas sector involve issues such as the following:

• shareholder/joint venture disputes;
• abusive termination of contracts;
• court/arbitration disputes between oil and gas companies and subcontractors;
• maritime disputes;
• tax disputes between the titleholder and the granting authority (eg, Lundin v Tunisian Republic – ICSID Case ARB/12/30);
• expiry of concessions and breach of priority rights or pre-emption rights;
• rejection by the Consultative Committee of Hydrocarbons of the financial or technical capacity of an applicant to a hydrocarbon title;
• surface tax;
• environmental issues (gas flaring);
• compensatory indemnity issues in case of non-compliance with minimum work obligations and payment of guarantees to the granting authority;
• labour disputes, illegal strikes, illegal blockage of oil and gas valve stations and production sites;
• real estate issues;
• criminal proceedings (eg, damages to equipment); and
• social security, tax and insurance issues.

Many disputes are settled amicably, while others are settled through arbitration.

Answer ... No data is available on this.