Gas Industry Regulatory Frameworks in BRICS Countries

Аннотация

This article presents the results of a comparative legal analysis of gas industry regulation in BRICS countries. In addition to the description of gas production in these states, the author provides a general overview of the sources of regulatory environment in the gas sector and discusses the co-relation issues between international and national laws. The nature of legal regulation of natural gas production, transportation, distribution and trade forms a significant part of this research. The author's conclusions derive from the description of legal constraints within natural gas export and import. Firstly, all BRICS countries need to develop their respective gas industries. Some BRICS countries, like Brazil, South Africa, and, to some extent, India) are radically reforming their legal systems, while others are trying to solve their problems by opening up to government and private investments within the existing regulatory system (China and Russia). Secondly, all BRICS countries currently have high level of monopolization in production, transportation, distribution and trading (to varying degrees). However, only in Russia monopoly is legally enshrined in the area of gas export. Thirdly, it appears that all BRICS governments understand the necessity to create a competitive market environment and are taking appropriate actions. Fourthly, all BRICS countries have corruption problems, as well as problems with government failures; therefore, the effect of the reforms in the short-run will depend greatly on the political will of each respective government and to a lesser degree on the quality of legal regulation.