Queen Mary University of London is partnering with Pinsent Masons LLP in this global survey on the future of international energy arbitration at a time of profound change and instability arising from the energy transition as well as geopolitical events. The aim of the survey is to understand, in this rapidly evolving context, what the sector needs now and in the future from international arbitration as a process for resolving cross-border commercial and investor-State energy-related disputes.

The survey seeks the views of the energy sector, including parties, disputes practitioners, arbitrators, academics, experts, arbitral institutions and organisations. Its objectives are threefold, namely to: 

• understand the principal causes and types of disputes and the main risks and challenges faced by the energy sector now and in the short to medium term,
• ascertain whether arbitration will continue to be ‘fit for purpose’ as the main forum to resolve cross-border energy-related disputes and what alternatives may be suitable, and
• find out what participants in energy-related arbitrations would like to see in order to make the process more economical and accessible.

The survey URL can be found here.
A Standard Chinese language version URL of the survey is also available here.

For the purposes of the survey:

• ‘International energy arbitrations’ means: arbitrations arising out of transactions, projects and operations in or related to the energy sector in which the parties, or their controlling shareholders, are from different jurisdictions, or arbitrations where the parties are from the same jurisdiction, but the dispute involves an international (i.e., not purely domestic) element.
• ‘Energy sector’ covers the production, supply and storage of energy, as well as the construction of energy infrastructure and the provision of related equipment.
• ‘Energy sources’ include oil and gas (and other fossil fuels), renewables (hydropower, geothermal, solar, wind, tidal, biomass and green hydrogen), nuclear energy and hydrogen.
• ‘Energy transition’ refers to the movement of investment away from ‘traditional’ sources of power generation, use and storage to non-carbon-based alternatives, such as renewables and hydrogen.
• ‘Energy security’ means ‘ensuring the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price’ (whether long or short term). [Source: International Energy Agency (IEA)].

Instructions

• We appreciate that not all questions are relevant to all respondents. Please answer as many questions as are relevant to you, leaving blank any that you are not able to answer. The survey should take no more than 25 minutes to complete. 
• Please anwer all questions based on your knowledge only. Answering the questions does not require any data collection or research.
• As the title indicates, the survey is forward-looking. Given the speed of change and instability, the questions we pose should be considered in the context of changes you believe are likely to happen in the short to medium term.
• The closing date for responses is 12 October 2022. We plan to publish our report on the survey findings in January 2023. We are grateful for your participation and look forward to sharing the Survey’s outcomes.
• Please feel free to forward the link to this questionnaire to any other potentially interested respondents. 

You can read more about the survey here:

• Study launched into energy disputes and the use of arbitration
• LinkedIn
• GAR – Queen Mary teams with Pinsent Masons for survey on energy disputes