The procedures for stabilising oil investments increase economic co-operation between the southern and northern states; on the one hand, they attract foreign oil companies, which are generally from the north, by offering them guarantees of legal security and protecting their interests, and on the other hand, they make it possible to transfer know-how to the southern countries, which are currently unable to manage oil investments without the technical input of these foreign companies. On the basis of this observation, oil-producing countries must be encouraged to stabilise their legal regime, to strengthen contractual stabilisation mechanisms and to ratify investment treaties in order to attract foreign private operators. This legal security would enable foreign companies to contribute to economic development in the host country.