Energy law is often referred to as an immature or emergent area of law. This article argues that the maturity of a legal discipline is principally defined by two features. First, it must establish common denominators within itself that do not change even if the jurisdictions or the laws themselves do. Second, a mature legal discipline ought to entail an established scholarly discourse as to how the identified denominators – the properties that define the discipline – impact the ways in which legal decisions are made in that area of law. The article advances this argument in three phases. First, it elaborates on the understanding of the immaturity of a legal discipline in energy law scholarship. Second, it suggests five common denominators of energy law that give the discipline its identity. Finally, it demonstrates the ways in which the properties identified in the second phase are reflected in the methodology of energy law.

能源法通常被称为法律的不成熟或新兴领域。本文认为，法律学科的成熟度主要由两个特征来定义。首先，它必须在自己内部建立共同的标准，即使管辖权或法律本身也不会改变。其次，成熟的法律学科应该就已确定的分母（定义学科的属性）如何影响该法律领域的法律决定方式进行学术研究。本文分三个阶段提出了这一论点。首先，它详细阐述了对能源法学术中法律学科的不成熟性的理解。其次，它提出了能源法的五个共同点，它们赋予了该学科以相同的身份。最后，