Selling Hydrocarbon Concessions: A Case Study of the A.P. Moller Sole Concession with Special Regards to the Transferability of Concessionary Privileges

Abstract

This study examines selected transferability issues arising from A.P. Moller – Maersk A/S’s (APM’s) recent sale of its Sole Concession to explore for and produce hydrocarbons. To do so, the article accounts for the motley history of the Sole Concession focusing on the tendency to resolve disputes through negotiation and agreements. It is the article’s main hypothesis that the Sole Concession and its appurtenant agreements have a hybrid legal nature. Using an integrative private–public law approach, the article analyses some of the issues related to the transferability of negotiated privileges linked to the Sole Concession. It is concluded that to fully comprehend the complexity of the Sole Concession and the transferability issues, it is necessary to draw on both private and public law norms and arguments. The conclusion is put into perspective by reference to the Continental European concept of ‘administrative contracts’. Concessions, Concessionary Privileges, Denmark, Transferability, Negotiated Regulation, Administrative Contracts