Cooperation agreement as legal instrument stimulating hydrocarbon exploration and production in Poland

Abstract

The oil and gas industry in Poland is burdened with relatively high investment risk. The main reason for this is the complex geology and relatively medium-sized resources that do not guarantee a return on an investment. The above factors have led to the necessity of sharing the risk to minimize the negative financial effect of the investment, which has resulted in the more and more frequent cooperation of several entities towards the realization of a specific project. The »shale revolution« has significantly contributed to the evolution of legal regulations in this area, i.e., the implementation of the act of June 9, 2011 - Geological and Mining Law (Journal of Laws of 2014, Item 1133). It introduces the concept of »cooperation agreement« for the purpose of the joint use of rights and execution of concession obligations in respect to the exploration and prospecting of hydrocarbon deposits as well as the extraction of hydrocarbons from deposits. In the article, the author intends to show that, contrary to the generally prevailing opinion, the new act of June 9, 2011 - Geological and Mining Law (Journal of Laws of 2011, No. 163, Item 981) was not only aimed at increasing state control over the activity in the field of exploration and production, but on the contrary - it was aimed at liberalizing the market and stimulating domestic and foreign entities to engage in exploration and production activities in Poland. The article presents a new and original approach in light of the interpretation of legal regulations based on which hydrocarbon exploration and production activities are carried out in Poland.The author uses the formal-dogmatic analysis method (otherwise known as the logical-linguistic analysis method) to clarify the archival, current, and abandoned legal acts pertaining to the macroeconomic environment. This method is well-known in law research.