What does the future hold for oil and gas, what can we learn from the past and what role does law have to play in this? Using a unique temporal lens, this Research Handbook examines core themes in oil and gas regulation from historical, contemporary and forward-looking perspectives. Structured in three distinct parts, this Research Handbook begins by detailing the past dominance of oil, charting the role and influence of legal instruments and regulatory regimes governing petroleum. Using a diverse range of case study perspectives over several jurisdictions, the Research Handbook then turns to oil and gas in the modern world, with critical discussion of current petroleum legal regimes. It concludes with a series of forward-looking chapters that consider the future challenges and opportunities for oil and gas, and how petroleum-dependent states can both regulate and facilitate the age of energy transition. Surveying the technological shifts of the oil and gas sector through time, this comprehensive Research Handbook will prove an invigorating read for scholars and students of energy and natural resource law disciplines. Its discussion of emerging technologies and community impact will prove particularly useful to regulators, policymakers, corporations and legal practitioners concerned with the future of energy.