Abstract

The article explores the discipline of long-term contracts for the purchase of natural gas, characterized by the «take-or-pay» clauses. The analysis of the structure and function of this type of contracts is filtered by the concepts, usually assumed as antagonists, of «certainty» and «justice ». The contrast between these two conceptual poles can be overcome with great "flexibility", so that the contingent can be governed and the rebalancing of these contractual relations particularly exposed to changes in the original economic and legal structure can be pursued.