Law Commons^™

A Deep Dive Into Private Governance Of Deep-Sea Mining, Andrew Johnson

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Modern, information-driven economies need rare-earth metals for everything from laptop computers to cellular phones. Society will require more of these metals for the solar panels, wind turbines, and storage batteries necessary to convert electricity systems to renewable energy. The deep sea contains large amounts of high-quality, rare-earth metals that companies and nations are increasingly interested in mining. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is authorized under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to permit and regulate deep-sea mining of the sea floor outside of national jurisdiction (the “Area”), and the ISA is currently developing regulations to …

Solving The Unsolvable? How A Joint Development Zone Could Extinguish The Natural Gas Conflict In The Eastern Mediterranean, Kimberlyn Hughes

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Recently, the Cyprus conflict has manifested itself in the competing claims of Greek Cyprus, Turkish Cyprus, and Turkey over their maritime jurisdictions. During the past decade, the discovery of natural gas exacerbated these preexisting claim disputes. Solutions have been nonexistent due to the unwillingness of the parties to conduct multilateral negotiations or use international courts and are complicated by the fact that not all parties are signatories to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, an instrument most countries defer to in comparable disagreements. While prior publications have proposed mechanisms that could solve maritime disputes in this …

Fracking Secrets: The Limitations Of Trade Secret Protection In Hydraulic Fracturing, John Craven

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Hydraulic fracturing is a drilling technique used to increase resource production in which specially blended liquid mixtures are pumped into oil and gas wells under high pressure causing underground rock formations to crack and open up. Oil and gas companies have traditionally protected the composition of these proprietary liquids through state-level trade secret laws. Opponents of hydraulic fracturing have argued for federal regulation of the process and claimed that trade secret protection is simply a way for oil and gas companies to withhold the identity of the chemicals used. Oil and gas companies are at risk of losing the economic …

Organizational Apologies: Bp As A Case Study, Erin O'Hara O'Connor

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Article examines the conduct of BP executives in the weeks following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to illuminate the use of apology by organizations. After briefly describing the value of apology and its nuances from an evolutionary perspective, the Article describes how apology and other responsibility-accepting behaviors can be mobilized by organizations to avoid the costs of its apparently careless conduct. In particular, organizations can designate particular agents as spokespersons who possess the ability to portray a sense of sincerity and regret. Moreover, reconciliation by ingroup members appears to be more common than is reconciliation by outgroup members, likely …

Rethinking Multinational Corporate Governance In Extractive Industries, Matthew Nick

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The oil and natural gas reserves under the Caspian Sea have sparked the interest of international investors and oil firms. The political, economic, and social turmoil in the five countries bordering the Caspian Sea, however, pose significant challenges for effective regulation of multinational interaction with the five Caspian states. A joint-effort approach to regulation involving the World Bank, multinational enterprises, and the individual Caspian states' governments poses the most functional and efficient means of instituting international oversight. Such a tripartite structure connects the fortunes of all the parties and provides safeguards against default by any single entity. A mutually beneficial …

End The Moratorium: The Timor Gap Treaty As A Model For The Complete Resolution Of The Western Gap In The Gulf Of Mexico, John Holmes

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The United States and Mexico recently entered into a treaty to delimit the continental shelf in the Gulf of Mexico, allowing both countries access to explore and exploit valuable natural resources in the Western Gulf. Included in the treaty is a ten-year moratorium on oil production within a buffer zone that encompasses transboundary reserves.

This Note explores the issues surrounding the buffer zone and suggests a model to resolve the dispute over access to transboundary reserves that will benefit both the United States and Mexico. Part 11 describes the relevant international law governing the Gulf of Mexico. Part III outlines …

The Caspian Sea Legal Regime, Pipeline Diplomacy, And The Prospects For Iran's Isolation From The Oil And Gas Frenzy, Faraz Sanei

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The signing of the "deal of the century" in Bahu creating one of the first major Caspian energy consortiums between Azerbaijan and western oil companies signaled the beginning of a new era in world energy politics. The discovery of potentially huge oil and gas reserves in the newly-independent states of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan opened the door for western oil companies rushing to gain a competitive foothold in the new energy market. For Asia and the West this discovery provides a golden opportunity to ensure market stability through diversification of energy export routes. For the United States and its political …

Common Law Duty, Jim Rossi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This article addresses the implications of retail competition in public utility industries, particularly electricity, for utility service obligations. After tracing the history of the common law duty to serve applicable to public utilities, the efficiency of utility service obligations in the context of rate regulation is explored. Retail competition, many suggest, poses a threat to utility service obligations. However, regulators can minimize the inefficiency of traditional utility service obligations without sacrificing the benefits of retail competition if they pay attention to the structural efficiency of competitive retail markets. The article advocates imposition of basic service obligations on the DisCo and …

Oil Pollution Act Of 1990: Opening A New Era In Federal And Texas Regulation Of Oil Spill Prevention, Containment And Cleanup, And Liability, J.B. Ruhl, Michael J. Jewell

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This article assesses Congress' effort, through enactment of OPA, to meet the goals it stated in 1989. Part II provides an overview of the fragmented" condition of pre-OPA federal law addressing oil spills and an examination of the deficiencies Congress believed existed in that body of law. An understanding of those perceived deficiencies is essential for interpreting OPA. Part III surveys the basic features of OPA, particularly its liability provisions. It concludes that, although OPA surely achieves a major overhaul of federal oil spill law, it is basically in the same boat. Part IV examines the response of the states …

Death Of A Treaty: The Decline And Fall Of The Antarctic Minerals Convention, Deborah C. Waller

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

On June 2, 1988, in Wellington, New Zealand, thirty-three states signed the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resources. This agreement, the product of six years of negotiation, fills a significant gap in the Antarctic Treaty System: it provides rules governing the prospecting, exploration, and development of minerals in Antarctica. Recently, however, two Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties--France and Australia--have refused to ratify the Minerals Convention, instead advocating a permanent ban on mineral activities in Antarctica. Their opposition thwarts plans for the ratification of the Minerals Convention. This Note provides an overview of the present Antarctic Treaty System, sets forth …

Natural Gas Rate Design: A Neglected Issue, Richard J. Pierce, Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

The theses of this Article are: (1) the present method of allocating natural gas costs among consumers produces significant allocative inefficiency that has contributed to the present problems in the natural gas market and is certain to create even greater problems in the future; (2) the new rate designs suggested over the past years in regulatory and congressional debates would do little to eliminate the allocative inefficiency inherent in present rate designs and would introduce unnecessary collateral problems; (3) several approaches to the rate design issue potentially could eliminate or greatly reduce allocative inefficiency at a tolerable cost; and (4) …

Vertical Divestiture Of The Petroleum Majors: An Affirmative Case, Walter Adams

Vanderbilt Law Review

In October of 1976, the Vanderbilt Law Review published an article on vertical divestiture of the petroleum industry by Mr. Stark Ritchie, general counsel for the American Petroleum Institute. In his article, Mr. Ritchie examined the economic justifications for vertical integration in the oil industry, suggested several consequences of divestiture, and concluded that the remedy would be an inappropriate and inefficient method of increasing competition in the industry. In response to that article, Professor Adams examines the concentration of economic power in the petroleum industry, the relationship of vertical integration to the exercise of horizontal control, and the merits of …

The Transition From Private To Public Control In The Venezuelan Petroleum Industry, Felix P. Rossi-Guerrero

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Oil was discovered in Venezuela in 1914. The Zumaque No. 1 well on eastern Lake Maracaibo was Venezuela's first commercial discovery. The beginning of the First World War, however, delayed exploration and it was not until 1922 that a well being drilled in La Rosa, in the state of Zulia, blew out of control sending oil 200 feet into the air and spreading oil all around at a rate of some 100,000 barrels daily for nine days. The world took notice of Los Barrosos No. 2, and the Bolivar Coastal Field--one of the three or four largest oil fields in …

New Directions In The Search For And Development Of Petroleum Resources In The Developing Countries, Hasan S. Zakariya

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The developing countries have several things in common. They share, to a large extent, similar political and socio-economic backgrounds, strive to overcome similar problems, and aspire to achieve the same goals of social progress and economic welfare. Hence, the importance of coordination of their efforts towards their common objectives can hardly be overemphasized.

In order to avoid the mistakes of the past and emulate the positive gains of the present, the developing countries, in searching for and developing their petroleum resources, can and must learn a great deal from each other. The experience of some of them has been long, …

Government And Private Enterprise In Latin American Petroleum Development, Frank M. Lacey

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The nationalization of the Venezuelan oil industry on January 1, 1976, can be viewed in a sense as a culmination of more than half a century of striving on the part of Latin American republics to become the masters of their own most important resources, one that has seemed at times symbolic of their very destinies. It is a process that has involved nearly every major country in Latin America. It is one that has been resisted by the prevailing economic, political, and legal institutions, and in the course of which not only major business enterprises but nations as well …

Latin America: A Petroleum Profile, Ewell E. Murphy, Jr.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Argentina--Mixed. Under present legislation (Hydrocarbons Law 17,319 of June 23, 1967) specified geographical areas are reserved to state enterprises and the remainder of the country is, in principle, open to private enterprise under a system of exploration permits and exploitation concessions. No permits or concessions have been granted to private enterprise for some time, however. There are pending legislative amendments which would reestablish the monopoly of Y.P.F. over all phases of the oil industry but permit private enterprise to operate under work or service contracts with Y.P.F.

Oil Operations In Latin America: The Future Of Private Enterprise, Ewell E. Murphy, Jr.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

We live in tumultuous times. Whether measured on a scale of millennia, of centuries, or of generations, our lifetime's segment of the graph of world history is marking giddy ascents, harrowing declines, and abrupt, unbridgeable discontinuities.

On a millennial scale we are entering the twilight of those five astounding centuries of Western leadership that began with the Renaissance. The flags of empire, long banished from the Americas, have now been struck in Asia and Africa as well, and flutter quaintly over only a dwindling handful of enclaves and outposts. Islam has awakened from her sleep of seven hundred years and …

The United States Government Perspective On Expropriation And Investment In Developing Countries, Richard J. Smith

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The title for my presentation given in your program clearly covers two major subjects, either of which would make an ambitious topic for the relatively brief presentation I intend to make today. Therefore, for the half-hour or so that I will talk before we get into the more important and valuable exchange of ideas and discussion to follow, I have made the decision, which I hope you will agree is sensible, to deal mostly with the subject I know more about--the protection of United States private interests abroad.

But just so no one asks for his money back, let me …

Historical Perspectives And New Directions In The Exploitation Of Latin American Petroleum Resources, Henry B. Steele

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This paper constitutes an attempt, in a very brief compass, to provide an historical survey of the traditional roles of government and private enterprise in the exploitation of Latin American petroleum resources, to evaluate the current situation, and to speculate in a limited manner on the future implications of present developments. The basic analytical frame of reference is that of economics, but since the petroleum industry is a world industry, developments in the Latin American petroleum industry must be placed in the wider context of world oil industry economics and politics. From the standpoint of economic analysis, the major conflict …

The Development Of Peruvian Law For Petroleum Subcontractors, Stanley F. Rose

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces of Peru under the leadership of General Juan Velasco Alvarado assumed the government of Peru on October 3, 1968. One reason given for the assumption of power was that Peruvian interests had been severely damaged in the Act of Talara of August 13, 1968. After nullifying the Act of Talara, the Government expropriated the International Petroleum Company (IPC) refinery in Talara. As revealed in 1974 by the publication of the Revolutionary Government's plan of strategy, "Plan Inca," the Peruvian military had a clear idea of what it believed the situation of the Peruvian …

International Oil--Shortage, Cartel Or Emerging Resource Monopoly?, James T. Jensen

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In the early days of industrialization in the United States, giant combines with great market power developed in a number of industries, such as oil, steel and railroads. Out of that era arose a body of domestic law and regulation that sought to define the limits within which those organizations could function in the economic life of the country. The Sherman and Clayton Acts formed the basis for antitrust law. Regulatory agencies such as the Federal Power Commission, the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Federal Trade Commission were formed to regulate the excesses of the private sector. We may now …

Books Received, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

BASIC DOCUMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW Edited by Ian Brownlie-- London: Oxford University Press, 1972 (2d ed.). Pp. x, 284. $4.50.

LAW AND INTERNATIONAL LAW: A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BIBLIOGRAPHIES By Theodore Besterman-- Totowa, New Jersey: Rowman and Littlefield, 1971. Pp. x, 436. $20.00.

CONFLICT ISSUES AND INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION DECISIONS: THREE CASES By Young W. Kih-- Denver: 1970-1971 Monograph Series in World Affairs, University of Denver, 1971. Pp. xi, 96. $1.00.

THE INTERNATIONAL COFFEE AGREEMENT: A STUDY IN COFFEE DIPLOMACY By Bart S. Fisher New York: Praeger Publishers, 1972. Pp. xx,287. $17.50.

LAW AND POLITICS IN OUTER SPACE: A BIBLIOGRAPHY By …

Federal Regulation Of Independent Natural Gas Producers, Joe H. Foy

Vanderbilt Law Review

In describing and evaluating area rate-making, Mr. Foy concentrates on its historical context. His discussion shows how conventional utility and railroad regulatory methods grew to fit the economic characteristics of the regulated industries. He traces the fluctuating standards of the federal "fair value" era and the modern "end-result" era, with emphasis on the Hope case, and analyzes the use of typical or representative costs in various types of group proceedings. Concluding that natural gas producers occupy a unique factual position, he warns that the FPC must continue to devise ingenious, pragmatic methodology, untrammelled by conventional regulatory concepts, if its regulation …

The Controversy Over Federal Regulation Of Independent Producers Of Natural Gas, Jerome M. Alper

Vanderbilt Law Review

The Natural Gas Act,' enacted in 1938, gives to the Federal Power Commission the power of comprehensive regulation over the transportation of natural gas in interstate commerce and over the sale in interstate commerce of natural gas for resale. Under this statute the Commission has regulated the activities of the interstate pipelines which link the distant market points with the producing fields. One of the most controversial questions arising in the administration of the Act has been whether the producers and processors which sell the natural gas to the interstate transmission lines are subject to the Act. The question remained …

Book Reviews, Hugh L. Sowards (Reviewer), Stanley D. Rose (Reviewer), William D. Warren (Reviewer)

Vanderbilt Law Review

Securities Legislation

By Louis Loss

Boston: Little, Brown & Com-pany, 1951. Pp. xxvii, 1283. $17.50

reviewer: Hugh L. Sowards

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Private Property, the History of an Idea

By Richard Schlatter

New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1951. Pp. 284. $2.50

reviewer: Stanley D. Rose

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Oil and Gas Law: Collection of articles

TEXAS LAW REVIEW

Austin: Texas Law Review, Inc., 1951. Pp. xix, 1736. $15.00

reviewer: William D. Warren

Formal Requirements For Creation Of The Oil And Gas Lessee's Interest, William D. Warren

Vanderbilt Law Review

The practice of the courts of employing almost as many varying and contradictory descriptions of the nature of the lessee's interest under the usual oil and gas lease as there are petroleum producing states has a historical origin which is clearly traceable. In the latter half of the nineteenth century as each of the known oil bearing states was slowly explored and developed for petroleum, it fell the lot of their courts to solve the complicated legal problems arising in this new and unique industry. Equipped with but little accurate scientific knowledge about the physical behavior of oil and gas, …

Book Notes, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Conservation of Oil and Gas, A Legal History, 1948

Edited by Blakely M. Murphy

Chicago: American Bar Association, 1949. Pp. xvii, 754. $3.00

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1950 Annual Survey of American Law

New York University School of Law

New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1951. Pp. x, 915. $10.00

Federal And State Control Of Natural Resources, Corwin W. Johnson

Vanderbilt Law Review

Federalism, a complicating factor in many areas of governmental concern, poses unique problems in efforts of the states and the Federal Government to maximize the satisfaction of human wants from natural resources. These problems take on added significance in view of indications of growing governmental activity in response to the pressures upon our natural resource base of an expanding economy, a rising population trend, and increasing preparations for national defense during what may be a very long period of international tension and war. Decisions must be made determining the manner in which new responsibilities will be shared by our levels …

Tort Liability Of Oil Companies For Acts Of Service Station Operators, William T. Gamble

Vanderbilt Law Review

Since the advent of the automobile, travel by motor vehicle has been ever-increasingly prevalent, and consumption of gasoline in the large amounts so required' has necessitated the existence of a great number of retail service stations. For various reasons the major producers of petroleum products have thought it desirable to retain some connection with the distribution of their products until those products pass to the hands of consumers, and consequently nearly all such major producers have established extensive systems of retail outlets which sell only that producer's products and under its exclusive trade names. Because of the great number of …