Legal Aspects of Gas Industry Regulation in India and Republic of South Africa

The present paper is devoted to a study of the legal regulation of the relations in the gas industry of India and RSA. In the first instance the author represents the overall survey of the state of the gas industry in these countries and perspectives of its development. He finds out that they have a lot in common. Both do not have considerable gas reserves, at the same time the demand for the resource is higher than production in the State. However, the Governments endeavor to develop proper production and not to import the gas, to which end the reforms of the legal regulation were undertaken. The present research is accented on the legal sources of regulation in that domain and the role of the international law. In the article the detailed analysis is made on legal regulation of activities of exploration, production of natural gas, on its transportation, distribution, commercialization, import-export activity in India and in RSA. In conclusion the author resumes the results of the comparative legal analysis, estimating the models of regulation, pointing out their weaknesses and possible treatment for its correction. The researcher comes to conclusion that in RSA the clear, comprehensible, codified legislation was elaborated. In the meantime, in India it is not the legislation which was changed but the sub legislative acts. In both States the special regulators were established. Notwithstanding the proclamed policy of deregulation of gas industry in India no unbundling measures were undertaken. The legislation of RSA in its turn foresee the measures of restriction of the abuse of dominant position by vertically integrated companies: the activity should be undertaken with the usage of separate bank accounts, the cross subsidization is forebeeden. If in India in the domain of the gas production the supple form - product sharing agreements is used, in RSA - the license. In both countries there is a State regulation of tarifs, transportation, storage, distribution and gas supply are perfomed in virtue of license. In India the right to acces to transport system is secured only in respect of the one third of the transport capacities. In spite of unsystematicity of indian approach to the regulation unlike RSA this State has reached more significant results: more explorations works were undertaken, more gas is produced.

BRICS, petrol, gas, legal aspects, energetics, India, RSA, energy law