Oil and gas services: Market liberalization and the ongoing GATS negotiations

Trade liberalization of oil and gas services is likely to involve three broad sets of issues that may be subject to negotiations. First, it is still rather controversial which economic activities in the hydrocarbon sector might constitute services and might be the object of multilateral trade liberalization. Second, beyond classification difficulties, uncertainty and ambiguities still persist with respect to the scope and content of applicable GATS rules. Finally, specific commitments for oil and gas services may turn out to be of marginal commercial value if they are not underpinned by a set of complementary measures.