Madeleine Heal

IFAD after Murban: force majeure, delivery disputes and benchmark transition in Gulf commodity market infrastructure

The legal consequences of the IFAD (ICE Futures Abu Dhabi) wind-down are substantial, immediate and in important respects novel. They fall into three broad categories: (i) the force majeure and delivery dispute proceedings that the war generated; (ii) the legal implications of the UAE’s wider strategic response to the conflict; and (iii) the sanctions compliance questions that have arisen from the successive reimposition and relaxation of US and allied sanctions on Iranian oil during successive ceasefire cycles. This article addresses each in turn.