2 - Foundational Approach

Summary

This chapter examines the entitlements of different entities, such as States, peoples and other groups, international organisations and individuals over energy, understood as resources converted into products through a range of activities relying on certain technologies. International law contains rules which confer such entitlements and organise allocation among competing uses. Such rules are the legal infrastructure upon which international energy transactions are organised. The chapter then discusses other rules, which organise the cross-border movements necessary to access resources where they are located and process them – through certain activities and technologies – for consumption in the form of products in other countries. Enabling access and protecting the processes of conversion and transfer are key aspects of a range of rules governing foreign investment, trade and transit relating to energy.