Many contracts provide that all disputes arising thereunder will be resolved by arbitration, rather than litigated in courts.

He also expressed the hope that the dispute over the centrifuges would "resolve itself" by Friday, and one of his aides said he was pressing the Iranians to back down.

"The M.T.A. and Zar regret their disputes and their ability to have resolved them sooner," the authority said in a statement yesterday.

In those states, they said, the reports had served to fuel disputes and complicated efforts to resolve problems.

"We feel that all the disputes over what the deed means have been totally resolved," she said.

But there are times when a dispute is harder to resolve, or is part of a wider problem.

Other Hurdles for Industry Industry officials acknowledged that even with the disputes resolved, natural gas sales faced other hindrances.

Indeed, dispute settlement procedures have been strengthened and many disputes resolved by panels of trade experts from both countries.

That dispute resolved, the industry went to Las Vegas more or less united in its visions for April.

Many disputes have arisen and resolved and many yet are undetermined.