The topic of "The Commercial Nature of Oil Investment Contracts" is considered one of the vital subjects that clearly intersects between branches of public and private law—especially in the absence of an explicit Iraqi legislation that governs the legal nature of such contracts. This underscores the importance of the research conducted by Dr. Thamer Ismail Hussein, as it stands out as a solid academic study that seeks to address a central issue: determining the legal nature of oil investment contracts by posing a fundamental question—Are these contracts administrative in nature, thus falling under public law where the state exercises its authority as a sovereign power? Or are they commercial contracts concluded by the state in its capacity as a regular legal person, thereby subject to the domain of private law and its general rules?The researcher begins the study with the hypothesis that investment activity in the oil sector is not limited to a sovereign dimension, but inherently contains purely commercial elements. This, in turn, necessitates a legal classification that aligns with investment requirements, market rules, and the principles governing a free economy. The analysis relies on several relevant Iraqi laws, notably: the Investment Law No. (13) of 2006, the Private Investment in Crude Oil Refining Law No. (64) of 2007, and the Iraqi Commercial Law No. (30) of 1984, in addition to petroleum law jurisprudence and principles of international commercial arbitration.
Sarah Al-Hindawy (Mon,) studied this question.