Transit Provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty and the Energy Charter Protocol on Transit

Abstract

The ongoing multilateral negotiations on the Energy Charter Protocol on Transit have the objective of offering concrete legal solutions to identified impediments to secure and efficient transit of crude oil, oil products, natural gas or electricity on the European continent. This article analyses provisions of the Protocol on third party access to energy transport facilities and its provisions on transit tariff design and international energy swaps. The Energy Charter Treaty and the Protocolon Transitare both instruments of international law developed in recognition of the growing importance of the economic area of energy transit, in particular in Eastern and Central Europe and in the economies in transition, including Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Turkmenistan and Ukraine. In preparing clear rules for interstate cooperation in energy transit, the Energy Charter process is following both an economic objective and a political objective of energy transit becoming an ever-increasing factor in promoting regional stability and security.