Class Information
Fall 2026
6326 Diplomacy for Oil and Gas - CARDENAS- 16375
Professor(s):
Julian Cardenas Garcia (RESEARCH PROFESSOR)
Credits: 3
Course Areas: Energy, Natural Resources and Environmental Law
International Law
Time: 2:30p-4:00p MW Location: 312
Course Outline: This course features the crossroads between geopolitics and the law of the oil and gas industry. The 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the recent use of force by the United States in Venezuela, Iran, and against transnational terrorist groups have highlighted energy security concerns in a global economy that still relies heavily on the use of hydrocarbons. Under a new balance-of-power system, it is necessary to review the laws governing energy transactions, including contracts, international treaties, and transnational sanctions regulation, to address energy transition and energy security policies that affect the performance of energy operations. From Houston, a world capital of energy diplomacy, we will study the legal instruments that have been developed to govern inter-state and state-corporate relations in the oil industry, providing students with the tools to identify the political and economic background of oil industry investment strategies.
Readings for this course will be focused on international treaties and public international law applicable to the oil and gas industry. We will also study selected chapters on energy geopolitics such as:
1)The Energy World is Flat by Daniel Lacalle and Diego Parrilla
2)The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World by Daniel Yergin
3)The End of Power by Moises Naim
4)Crude Volatility: The History and the Future of Boom-Bust Oil Prices by Robert McNally"
5) The New Map, by Daniel Yergin
Course Syllabus: Syllabus
Course Notes: (Mixed Mode) The UH registration system instruction mode for this course is listed as face-to-face, but this applies for only one week each month. For the face-to-face instruction mode, instructors and students are expected to be physically present in the classroom. If the course has a final examination, it will be in a classroom requiring your physical presence. Other assessment, such as a mid-term exam, may also be in a classroom requiring your physical presence. Due to exigencies in the schedule of the instructor, three weeks out of each month the class sessions will be held via synchronous distance education (SDE) – i.e., a zoom or teams internet meeting. The instructor’s syllabus or communications will provide the precise schedule of which weeks are face-to-face and which are SDE.
Prerequisites:
First Day Assignments:
Final Exam Schedule:
This course will have:
Exam:
Paper:
Satisfies Senior Upper Level Writing Requirement: No
Experiential Course Type: No
Bar Course: No
DistanceEd ABA: No
Pass-Fail Student Election: Available
