May 18, 2010
Huffington Post: The Cleanup Can't Stop at the Shore
A proposal by U.S. Senators Richard Lugar and Ben Cardin would require any company listed on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to disclose payments to governments for access to natural resources. As Congress debates this amendment to financial reform legislation, and the best response to the BP oil spill, RWI Director Karin Lissakers explains the urgent need for legal reform to ensure extractive sector transparency and accountability. Read more ...May 12, 2010
Nigeria: Season of Uncertainty
RWI Research Associate Alexandra Gillies and Northwestern professor Richard Joseph survey the political turmoil in Nigeria during the illness of late President Umaru Yar’Adua, detailing the uncertainty among Nigerian leaders and the ways in which political tumult slowed action on vital issues such as crippling infrastructural deficit, local confict, oil sector reform, and the rehabilitation of democratic institutions in preparation for the 2011 elections. Read more ...May 6, 2010
RWI Contracts Transparency Work Recognized by Oil & Gas Journal
In late March, Oil & Gas Journal editor Bob Tippee spoke to the Gas Processors Association on the necessity of renewing a once-vibrant corporate conversation on the concept of the extractive industry's "license to operate." In an eloquent call to action, Tippee noted the important role that Revenue Watch has played in maintaining an emphasis on transparency in extractive industry contracting. Praising the insights of recent RWI report Contracts Confidential, Tippee exhorted GPA members to open their contracts up for public oversight, and transform them from objects of secrecy into vehicles for building trust. Read more ...May 4, 2010
Video: "Your Voice, Your Opportunity" Indonesia Campaign Raises Budget Awareness
This spring, Revenue Watch's Indonesian partner, PATTIRO, helped lead an innovative grassroots campaign to raise awareness about government management of public finances at the local level. The "Your Voice, Your Opportunity" project, which reached nearly 2,000 people in Indonesia's poor Blora district, highlighted the lack of access to government budgeting information citizens in resource-rich developing countries often face. A video produced by Revenue Watch Southeast Asia Regional Coordinator Chandra Kirana captures this outreach project in process. Read more and watch the video ...May 3, 2010
Indonesia Leads Asia Pacific Region with Plans to Implement Transparency Standards
Revenue Watch applauded the Government of Indonesia's announcement that Indonesia plans to implement the EITI. The presidential decree signed April 23 initiates several of the required steps to reach formal EITI candidate status. RWI praised Indonesia's leaders in particular for an "unequivocal commitment to go beyond minimum EITI standards." Read more ...April 25, 2010
EVENT: Revenue Watch Presents Crisis Recommendations at IMF-World Bank Meetings
On Sunday, April 25, the Revenue Watch Institute and several distinguished experts met in Washington, D.C., to discuss lessons learned from the global financial crisis and the steps that local and international actors can take to protect resource rich economies from future shocks. Guest panelists included Rabah Arezki of the International Monetary Fund, Ernest Aryeetey of the Brookings Institution and moderator Brian Pinto, adviser to the Managing Director of the World Bank. Read more and play audio from this event ...April 20, 2010
Promoting Transparency in the Extractive Sectors: An EITI Training for Tanzania Legislators
For decades, promoting transparency in the Tanzanian extractive sectors has remained largely a rhetorical exercise. This started to change with the executive's decision to disclose the "Bomani Committee" report, and the country's entry into the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in 2009. On March 30, RWI conducted a one-day training session on the EITI with members of the Tanzanian Parliamentary Standing Committee for Energy and Minerals, helping provide MPs with an overview of the EITI process and Tanzania's progress to date, as well as exploring the role Parliament can play with regards to implementation. Read more ...April 16, 2010
EITI Board Sends Wake Up Call to Candidate Countries and Tests Its Own Resolve
In a test of authority and political will, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative decided to grant limited extensions for 16 countries to complete their EITI process, including Kazakhstan, Timor Leste and Ghana. RWI board chair Anthony Richter said, "Countries are learning what it means to implement EITI standards, and the EITI itself is establishing what it takes to enforce them." The board also announced that Equatorial Guinea and São Tomé and Príncipe had lost their candidate status. Revenue Watch encouraged advocates in all 18 countries to renew their commitments to full EITI implementation. Read more ...April 9, 2010
Nigerian Civil Society Activists Assaulted and Detained
Revenue Watch joins Amnesty International in calling for an immediate investigation into the illegal assault and detention of three Nigerian civil society activists by police on April 5. Three activists from NGO Social Action, which promotes citizen participation in the management of resource extraction, trade and investment that affect human rights, democracy and livelihoods, were violently stopped and arrested without explanation by police as they left their office. The arrests are the latest example of violence and intimidation against transparency and human rights advocates in many resource-rich countries. Read more ...April 8, 2010
Ghana Discloses Draft Proposal for Petroleum Revenue Management Bill
After criticism from a united coalition of civil society groups in Ghana, the Ghanaian government has publicly released a draft proposal on Petroleum Resource Revenue Management, spelling out the key elements of an upcoming bill that will shape future management of oil and gas revenues in the country. While Ghanaian citizens had been invited to comment on the drafting of the bill, the coalition protested the failure of the Ministry of Finance to disclose the proposal ahead of public consultations. The group commended the government for coming to recognize the importance of public input and engagement with dissent. Read more ...April 8, 2010
Standard Setters Risk Putting Oil, Gas and Mining Companies Before Investors and Citizens in Steps Toward New Rules
On April 6, the International Accounting Standards Board published a Discussion Paper containing research findings for its new International Financial Reporting Standard that would regulate extractive industry payments. These proposals mark an important first step towards improving disclosure of company payments to governments in resource rich countries. However, in a joint statement, extractive industry experts from Revenue Watch Institute, Publish What You Pay and Tax Research LLP argue that the new proposed standard was weakened by industry pressure and, in its current form, does not go far enough. Read more ...April 7, 2010
UK Motion Supports Extractive Industry Transparency
In late February, United Kingdom MP Chris Mullin of the Labour Party introduced an early day motion in Parliament urging the government to consider adopting legislation requiring extractive companies to fully disclose revenue payments to governments. A joint letter from six civil society groups exhorted MPs to "assist the struggle against corruption in the oil, gas and mining industries of the world" by supporting the measure, which could also go far in encouraging the US Congress to pass its Energy Security Through Transparency Act. Read more ...April 6, 2010
Revenue Watch Latin America Coordinator Discusses Peru's Post-Resource Economy
RWI's Carlos Monge is featured in an extended interview on PBS Newshour, discussing economic growth in Peru. Although Peru is considered an economic success story in Latin America, the country has an unbalanced pattern of growth that leaves behind many poor and rural areas. Monge discusses tax policy reforms, such as the institution of a windfall profit tax, that could help the nation receive a larger share of income generated by mining, oil and gas and markets of the future that could provide sustainable revenue beyond the extractive sector. Read more ...April 2, 2010
RWI Warns Developing Economies, "Don't Depend on Oil Alone"
In a new series of policy recommendations, the Revenue Watch Institute calls on nations rich in oil and minerals to diversify their economies and create stronger policies to protect revenues from volatility in commodity and credit markets. Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and an expert panel joined RWI authors at Columbia University this week to announce the policy series: "Boom, Bust and Better Policy: Crisis Lessons for Resource Rich Countries," which is based on original research of economic conditions, transparency practices and governance in more than 80 countries. Read more and download the complete papers ...March 29, 2010
One Size Doesn't Fit All: Challenges to Exporting the "Norwegian Model"
Oil-producing countries face steep obstacles in building political institutions that maximize public benefits and ensure government and industry accountability. A key challenge is dividing governance and oversight roles between different public bodies—something many international experts resolve by arguing for the "Norwegian Model" of strict separation of duties among different governing agencies. However, a new paper from Mark Thurber and David Hults of Stanford University and RWI Legal Analyst Patrick Heller finds that the model isn't the best prescription for every ailing oil sector. Read more ...March 19, 2010
Revenue Watch Institute Launches "Boom, Bust" Policy Analyses with Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz
On March 31 Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz and Chris Canavan of Goldman Sachs joined RWI at Columbia University to discuss the implications of the world financial crisis for resource-exporting countries. This exclusive event marks the release of the Revenue Watch series Boom, Bust and Better Policy: Crisis Lessons for Resource Rich Countries, a collection of new policy papers examining the economic, social and geo-political impacts of the financial crisis, the preceding commodities frenzy, and the price recovery that now appears to be underway. Read more and download the complete papers ...March 18, 2010
Oil Sector Governance Training for Ugandan MPs and Civil Society
On February 25-26, Revenue Watch and the Africa Institute for Energy Governance held a training on petroleum and gas governance for parliamentarians and civil society in Entebbe, Uganda. The training was the first time the Ugandan Parliament received a comprehensive training on petroleum governance and also marked the first step in a joint RWI-AFIEGO pilot project to support Parliament in making informed policy decisions on Uganda's nascent petroleum industry. RWI asked Dr. Keith Meyers to share his views on the progress being made in Uganda. Read more ...March 15, 2010
Sectarian Violence in Jos Calls Attention to Resource Tensions
The deadly attacks last week in the Nigerian city of Jos, where between 160 and 500 people were killed in the latest violence between local Muslims and Christians, highlighted ongoing tensions over the mineral-rich region's resource governance. While the killings themselves aren't directly related to extractive issues, the existence of longstanding discontent over management of tin extraction and mining revenues may have heightened tensions here as it has in other resource rich, and conflict prone, communities. Read more ...March 9, 2010
Transparency Initiative Faces Crucial Test at Deadline
As 22 countries in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative faced a March 9 deadline for completing their national validation processes—the EITI's "quality assurance" mechanism—RWI called for clear and consistent standards in the Initiative's response to the 20 countries whose validation work remains incomplete. "This is the first such deadline in the EITI's history," said RWI Chairman Anthony Richter. "Country performance and the EITI's forthcoming response will set precedents for the enforcement of transparency standards both within and beyond the Initiative." Read more ...February 19, 2010
RWI NEWSLETTER: February 2010
Find out about RWI's new Resource Center, the Publish What You Pay francophone meeting in Cote d'Ivoire, recent workshops on Tanzania's mining laws, EITI's expansion to include Iraq and Afghanistan, RWI's exploratory mission to China and Mongolia, a new era of tax transparency foretold at the OECD Global Forum meeting, the campaign to foster transparency in international financial systems, progress on a new Knowledge Hub in Latin America, and more. Read more ... | Français | EspañolFebruary 18, 2010
EXHIBITION & PANEL: Fifty Years of Oil and Struggle in the Niger Delta
Revenue Watch Institute is pleased to sponsor an upcoming exhibition by photographer Ed Kashi at London's HOST Gallery. On display from March 8 through April 3, the exhibit Curse of the Black Gold vividly documents the human and political consequences of a half-century of oil exploration in a region that holds Africa's largest oil reserves. Ed Kashi and RWI Nigeria coordinator Dauda Garuba also joined other experts on March 11 for a panel discussion at the London School of Economics. Read more ...February 16, 2010
Reforming the Mining Sector in Tanzania
Tanzania's once-promising mineral policy reforms are no longer new, and many of their objectives remain unattained. Unfortunately, the goal of increasing the sector's contribution to national growth and poverty reduction has proven to be far-fetched. New reforms are underway, but the question remains, what went wrong? This October, Revenue Watch hosted a training workshop in Dar-Es-Salaam to help Tanzanian legislators consider these questions and learn more about the complex challenges of managing the nation's mineral wealth. Read more ...February 11, 2010
Afghanistan Agrees to Transparency Standards
On Wednesday Afghanistan was formally added to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, signaling the country's commitment to sound natural resource management and increased public accountability. RWI welcomed the acceptance of Afghanistan as the latest EITI "implementing country." With Iraq and Afghanistan participating in the initiative, leaders and citizens in the Middle East and neighboring countries have a new tool in the struggle for both economic and political stability in the region. Read more ...February 8, 2010
Senate Report on Corrupt Officials Leads to Renewed Calls for Energy Security Bill
A report released last week by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations exposed how foreign officials from major U.S. oil suppliers are involved in oil profiteering schemes in Africa, channeling millions of dollars in natural resource wealth to U.S. bank accounts. The report recommends closing loopholes in anti-money laundering measures to prevent corrupt officials from diverting funds to the U.S. The news led transparency advocates to renew calls for passing the "Energy Security Through Transparency Act," a U.S. bill that would help combat corruption in oil and mineral-rich countries at the source. Read more ...February 2, 2010
Announcing the New Revenue Watch Resource Center!
RWI is excited to announce the launch of its online Resource Center, an interactive database of hundreds of research, training and policy documents on the management of natural resource wealth. Now civil society members, researchers and policy-makers who do not want to "reinvent the wheel" can access the lessons and wisdom from across the global transparency movement in one location. Read more and visit the Resource Center ...February 2, 2010
A New Era of Tax Transparency?
The OECD Global Forum meeting on tax and development this week reflected a sea-change in global thinking about the connections between taxes, transparency and development. Not only is improving tax transparency and collection now discussed as core to sustainable development, but governments, companies and civil society are working on how best to achieve it. RWI Director of Training and Capacity Building Vanessa Herringshaw blogs about the prospects for new tax transparency and the OECD's new commitments in this area. Read more ...January 26, 2010
"Knowledge is Power": Empowering Civil Society to Make the Most of the EITI in Tanzania
As Tanzania works toward EITI validation, local members of civil society, the media and a parliamentary representative gathered last week in Dar es Salaam for a series of EITI training and strategy sessions organized by RWI. The sessions, which particularly focused on civil society representatives on the EITI Multi-Stakeholder group, highlighted the leading role that civil society is playing in informing the transparency movement in Tanzania. RWI's Matteo Pellegrini reports on how the trainings have enhanced the knowledge of Tanzania's oversight bodies to play a key, proactive role in the EITI. Read more ...January 22, 2010
VIDEO: Follow the Money
A new two-minute video from Oxfam America demonstrates the global consequences of your everyday gas purchases: where the money goes, and why citizens in oil-producing nations often don't see the profits when U.S. gas prices soar. This animated video is helping the Publish What You Pay-U.S. coalition, which includes Revenue Watch, Oxfam America, and many other partners, as we spread the word about the U.S. Energy Security Through Transparency Act. Read more ...January 21, 2010
Revenue Watch Commends Norway for Landmark Move in Transparency Reporting
RWI congratulated Norway's EITI for issuing its first report, publishing all payments made by oil companies to the government in 2008. The report makes Norway the first European and OECD country to issue payment figures in an EITI report. Revenue Watch Director Karin Lissakers said, "Norway has long been seen as a model resource rich country for its support of transparency and accountability. Today, the country continues its tradition of setting a high standard for responsible resource revenue management." Read more ...January 19, 2010
AUDIO: BBC Radio on "Why Resource Rich Countries Often Stay Poor"
On BBC's "The World Tonight" program, RWI Africa Regional Coordinator Emmanuel Kuyole and Radhika Sarin of Publish What You Pay International discuss the challenges of responsible natural resource management and how citizens and leaders from Ghana to Ecuador are working to make the most of their resource wealth. The segment also includes comments from international transparency leaders at the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the International Council on Mining & Metals. Listen to the full audio ...January 11, 2010
In Historic Step, Iraq to Join Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
On January 10, Iraq's Prime Minister announced that the country was joining the EITI, a huge step toward the efficient and open management of its turbulent oil industry. The decision establishes Iraq as the Middle East's most important champion of the principles of transparency and accountability in the management of oil revenues. Revenue Watch congratulated Iraq's leaders and said the EITI standard of government partnership with citizens will be a powerful tool in the struggle for national and regional stability. Read more ...January 8, 2010
Football Attack Highlights Risk of Conflict in Oil-Rich Angolan Province
Today's brutal attack on the Togolese football team in Angola's Cabinda province serves as a harsh reminder of the instability that often reigns in enclaves where tremendous oil wealth coexists with chronic underdevelopment. RWI Legal Analyst Patrick Heller discusses this latest chapter in Cabinda's difficult history, and the blow it represents to Angola's efforts to transcend its violent past. Read more ...January 7, 2010
What Difference Will Oil Make? An Analyst Considers Ghana's Oil Boom
Dr. Keith Myers, co-founder of Richmond Energy Partners, led a Revenue Watch workshop on oil and gas governance for Ghanaian legislators last fall. The training was part of RWI's ongoing parliamentary project, which aims to provide MPs with an overview of the oil and gas industry and lessons learned from other countries; to increase capability for industry governance and oversight; and to allow Ghanaian MPs to learn from external experts and each other. Myers shares his reflections on the training and Ghana's oil future. Read more ...January 4, 2010
Niger Delta Citizens Coalition Demands Budget Accountability
The Niger Delta Citizens and Budget Platform recently undertook an investigation into regional development projects included in the budgets of four Delta states. NDCBP members analyzed state and local budgets and helped mobilize local communities to monitor the implementation of health and education aspects of the budgets. The findings of community monitors are included in four Budget Analysis Briefs and a forthcoming report that are helping raise public awareness of the importance of budget accountability in the Niger Delta region. Read more ...December 18, 2009
Africa Institute for Energy Governance Hosts Contract Transparency Workshop
Citizen leaders, members of parliament and journalists gathered last month in Kampala, Uganda for a workshop to promote contract transparency. Hosted by Revenue Watch grantee the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) the training offered issue experts and legislators the chance for in-person discussion about the challenges Uganda's leaders and many parliaments face managing resource production and revenues. Read more ...December 15, 2009
Revenue Watch Commends Hong Kong Exchange for Disclosure Proposals
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange recently sought formal comments on proposals to improve disclosure requirements for extractive companies. With these and other suggested changes, the HKEx has the chance to set a global example for stock exchanges, none of which currently endorses similar disclosures on environmental and social standards. RWI encourages HKEx to formalize these standards as part of their listing requirements, and also to consider more robust standards for revenue transparency. Read the consultation paper and RWI's commentary ...November 20, 2009
Analysis of China in Africa Reveals Some Familiar Challenges
In a new report co-funded by Revenue Watch and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, researchers at Stellenbosch University found that, though Chinese company officials were largely unfamiliar with transparency efforts like the EITI, most are interested in initiatives that hold the promise of an improved operating environment. Read more ...November 18, 2009
Transparency Activists Gather and Offer Feedback on New Natural Resource Charter
Two hundred activists convened in Montreal in November for the Publish What You Pay International Conference. Transparency campaigners, government officials and experts from the World Bank met to discuss topics including Canada's extractive industries, EITI implementation and the mission, membership and priorities of the PWYP campaign. Revenue Watch Director Karin Lissakers chaired a consultative session to seek civil society input on the Natural Resource Charter, a set of twelve principles for governments and societies on how to effectively harness the opportunities created by natural resources. Read more ...November 16, 2009
Revenue Watch Talks with Journalist Peter Maass About the "Twilight of Oil"
On November 11, the Revenue Watch Institute hosted journalist Peter Maass, author of the new book Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil, for an afternoon conversation with RWI Director Karin Lissakers. Crude World is a reporter's foray into many of the countries that have come to represent the so-called "resource curse." A diverse range of attendees, including journalists, investors and activists, came to the Open Society Institute to hear the dialogue between Maass and Lissakers, which touched on Maass' experiences and observations touring the world of extractive industry operations.
Read more ...November 12, 2009
Ukraine Announces Plans to Implement EITI
On September 30, Ukraine's cabinet announced that the country will implement the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) in cooperation with civil society and extractive companies. EITI Chairman Peter Eigen welcomed the news, saying, "Secure energy supplies depend on good governance and transparency. Through its commitment to the EITI, the Ukraine is demonstrating its willingness to play by the highest standards." RWI joins the transparency community in congratulating Ukraine on this important step towards responsible resource management. Read more ... (EITI)October 27, 2009
Ghana MPs Attend Three-Day Training on Extractive Industry Oversight
This October, Revenue Watch held a three-day technical workshop for Ghanaian legislators in partnership with German nonprofit GTZ and Canada's Parliamentary Centre. The workshop, which followed the July pilot of RWI's Ghana regional training hub, drew members of parliament and their staff to gain expertise about the oil and gas industry in Ghana—an emerging oil "hot spot" after significant recent discoveries. The event marked the launch of a two-year Revenue Watch project focusing on parliamentary capacity-building. Read more and dowload a new case study from the training ...October 26, 2009
RWI Analyzes Nigeria's Petroleum Reform Bill
Nigeria's National Assembly is currently reviewing a sweeping Petroleum Industry Bill, which would dramatically restructure the management of the country's oil industry in an effort to improve management, reduce corruption, and promote long-term development. Revenue Watch Legal Analyst Patrick Heller has reviewed the various drafts of the Bill and poses a serious of key upstream questions that the National Assembly should consider before passing the measure into law. Read more and download the entire brief ...October 21, 2009
Conference on Contracts Presents RWI Report and New Transparency Goals
More than 200 activists, policymakers and industry representatives met in Washington, D.C., in late September for in-depth discussions on transparency of extractive resource contracts. The conference, sponsored by Revenue Watch, Oxfam America, Publish What You Pay-US, among others, also marked the release of Revenue Watch's "Contracts Confidential" report, which challenges the most common industry and government objections to contract disclosure. Read more ...October 21, 2009
FORUM: Author Peter Maass on Oil, Crisis and Poverty
On November 11, RWI hosted a lunchtime discussion at the Open Society Institute with author Peter Maass about his new book, Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil. Maass's reporting explores debates over the remaining Saudi oil reserves; vast inequalities in the distribution of Equatorial Guinea's oil wealth; attempts to rebuild Iraq's oil industry; and Ecuadorians fighting Chevron in court. Revenue Watch Director Karin Lissakers moderated this discussion on "oil's indelible impact on the countries that produce it and the people who possess it." Read more ...October 21, 2009
Development Days Panel Promotes Transparency
A panel of transparency activists, policy analysts and members of parliament addressed information access during the annual European Development Days conference in Sweden this week. The conference, which seeks to make aid more effective, considered the role of transparency in development, and how public disclosure and public engagement can lead to social change. Panelist Antoine Heuty, Deputy Director of Revenue Watch, said, "When finance and revenue management processes are made visible, it gives regular citizens the knowledge to ask the right questions, and helps them see that they have a voice and a role in their countries' governance, industry and development." Read more ...October 20, 2009
Revenue Watch Praises Liberia for Milestone EITI Approval
On October 14, Liberia became the first African country to achieve "Compliant" status in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Revenue Watch congratulated government, civil society and industry leaders in Liberia for their EITI collaboration, and urged them to continue to refine the disclosure and reconciliation process that will ensure continued, meaningful reporting. Read more ... | FrançaisOctober 19, 2009
RWI Seminar: Civil Society's Role in Building Political Support for EITI
Next month in Washington, D.C., Revenue Watch will co-host a seminar with Partners for Democratic Change entitled: "Strategies for Building Political Support to Expand the Reach of EITI to New Countries" Panelists will discuss arguments for EITI adoption, successful experiences advocating EITI with participating governments, and the appropriate role of local civil society organizations in promoting the initiative. Read more ... (Partners for Democratic Change)October 16, 2009
Secrecy Fuels Suspicion About Mining Contracts: Letter to the Editor
In a recent edition of The Financial Times, Revenue Watch Director Karin Lissakers and Columbia University Law Professor Peter Rosenblum respond to a recent editorial about poorly-negotiated mining contracts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea and other countries in Africa. In their response, Lissakers and Rosenblum explain that a foundational cause of these hazardous deals is a culture of contract secrecy. Read more ...October 4, 2009
Zedillo Named to Lead Natural Resource Charter Oversight Board
Former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo has been named as the Chair of the board overseeing the Natural Resource Charter, a set of principles to guide governments and societies on how to effectively harness the opportunities created by natural resources. Yegor Gaidar, former Acting Russian Prime Minister, and Charles Soludo, who led Nigeria's Central Bank until May 2009, were also named to the Board. A formal consultation process for the Charter was announced October 4 during the annual IMF/World Bank meeting in Istanbul, with the first regional workshop to be held in Africa. The consultation process will continue until at least January 2010. Read more ...September 30, 2009
Deadly Turmoil in Guinea Increases Uncertainty Over Leadership and Mining Sector
Revenue Watch Institute and its partners were saddened by this week's fatal attacks on protesters in Guinea by soldiers of the ruling junta. More than 150 people were reportedly killed and 1,200 others wounded during a large-scale political protest over the junta's involvement in the upcoming presidential election. Guinea, which is rich in mineral resources, is a participant in the Extractive Resources Transparency Initiative, and the current upheaval also threatens the timely completion of its EITI process by the 2010 deadline. Read more ...September 30, 2009
With Release of Detained Activist, Groups in Niger Return to EITI Process
Revenue Watch joins the Publish What You Pay coalition in its support for civil society members in Niger as they resume their participation in the country's EITI process. The decision by the representatives to Niger's EITI multistakeholder group comes following the provisional release of activist Marou Amadou, who had been held in state custody since August 10. The arrest of Mamadou and fellow civil society member Wada Maman are part of a continuing campaign of official harassment against citizen leaders and supporters of transparency and accountability in the natural resource sector. Read more ... | Français (Publish What You Pay)September 28, 2009
Peace Building Group Warns of Risks Related to Uganda's Oil Prospects
International Alert, an independent peace building organization, recently launched a report on Uganda's emerging petroleum industry, "Harnessing Oil for Peace and Development in Uganda." Since its 2006 discovery of massive oil reserves, Uganda has been termed the "hottest inland exploration frontier" in Africa's oil industry. However, as this report illustrates, with potential oil windfalls comes an increased risk of violent conflict, as the sudden prospect of oil wealth heightens existing inter-group tensions and risks worsening conflict not only between Uganda and the DRC. IA offers a number of recommendations concerning the cross-border and domestic conflicts that are bound to occur in a resource-rich country, as well as a strong call for improving transparency in all aspects of the oil industry. Read more ...September 28, 2009
International Accounting Reform Represents "Rare Alignment" of Finance and Humanitarian Interests
The International Accounting Standards Board plays a quiet but pivotal role in steering energy industry transparency, determining what a company must disclose in annual financial statements. With consultation and input from Revenue Watch and other groups, the IASB has been conducting research for revamped accounting guidelines for extractive activity, resulting in a working draft of its proposals released this August. As transparency advocates prepare responses to the final "Discussion Draft," supporters of improved resource wealth management should continue to send comments and recommendations to the Board. Read more ...September 25, 2009
A Controversy Over Petrobrás Offers a Chance to Get Transparency Right
This July, Brazil installed a Parliamentary Investigation Committee to clarify a number of accusations of corruption involving the National Petroleum Agency and Petrobrás. The appointment of the committee comes at a momentous time, as Brazil debates a new legal framework for hydrocarbon management, prepares for general elections in 2010 and considers its future as a possible oil giant following massive recent petroleum discoveries. While determining the future governance of a potentially major petroleum power, Brazil's government must also ensure that the Committee can conduct a credible investigation as a necessary step towards greater transparency. Read more ... | EspañolSeptember 23, 2009
Bipartisan Group in Senate Introduces Legislation to Improve Company Reporting, Energy Security
The Revenue Watch Institute urged the Senate to take swift action on the "Energy Security through Transparency Act of 2009," introduced on September 23 by Senators Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.). The bill's small change to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission guidelines would would mark the first time energy companies are required to report materials expenditures on a country-by-country basis. Senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) are also original co-sponsors of the legislation. Read more ...September 17, 2009
Revenue Watch Welcomes End to Scandal-Plagued U.S. Program for Oil and Gas Payments
RWI praised the U.S. Interior Department's decision to end a program allowing energy companies to pay government royalties in oil and gas instead of in cash. The Royalty-In-Kind program suffered from scandalous mismanagement as well as weak oversight and a dangerous lack of transparency. RWI also applauded proposed legislation that would overhaul the department's management of oil and gas payments, and urged lawmakers to require that the U.S. apply the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative to mining and petroleum ventures on federal lands. Read more ...September 17, 2009
Nigerien Transparency Campaigner Provisionally Released
On September 15, an appeals court in Niger ordered the provisional release of detained transparency activist and PWYP member Marou Amadou. Amadou has been held since August 11 for "undermining state authority" amid a wave of broader restrictions on the free speech of Nigerien civil society, transparency activists and members of the press. His arrest prompted the civil society leadership of Niger's Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative to collectively withdraw from the process until the government provides a greater guarantee of safety and non-harassment of activists for good governance. Read more ... | Français (Publish What You Pay)September 14, 2009
Contracts Confidential: Ending Secret Deals in the Extractive Industries
Contract transparency is sorely needed to improve the management of natural resource wealth, in particular in developing nations where such resources often account for more than half of the national income. In a new report from RWI, authors Peter Rosenblum and Susan Maples delve into government and private sector objections to contract disclosure and make conclusions about what information may legitimately and reasonably be kept confidential, and how civil society institutions can better confront the challenge of secret deals. Read more ...September 14, 2009
AZERBAIJAN: Why Is Oil Contract Transparency Necessary?
The disclosure of extractive company payments to resource-rich states is a central pillar of the EITI process, but, in the words of transparency advocate Ingilab Ahmadov, it is in the early decisions about licenses and contracts "where things get interesting." Since each party may have incentives to undermine the fairness of the process, for the other party or for the public, it is no surprise that companies and countries often work to limit access to contracts. In his commentary on this widespread problem, Ahmadov, director of Azerbaijan's Public Finance Monitoring Center, addresses several myths that help to explain the general unwillingness to share extractive contracts with the public. Read more ...September 11, 2009
ANÁLISIS QUINCENAL: Transparency and Extractives Update from Latin America
Fresh news and insight from Carlos Monge, RWI Latin America Regional Coordinator, and Revenue Watch colleagues. Issue July 25 covers intensified oil sales in Ecuador; falling hydrocarbon and copper exports in some Latin American countries; and an upswing in state-owned Latin American oil companies seeking financing for their investment plans. Read more ... | EspañolSeptember 10, 2009
Questions About Fairness May Delay Iraq-Shell Gas Deal
In the heightened political climate surrounding Iraq's upcoming election, lawmakers and other Iraqis are criticizing the country's pending natural gas deal with Shell Oil, saying that it offers lopsided benefits to the international oil giant that would grant the company a monopoly, and that it was drafted without adequate transparency or oversight. Based on a review of Iraq's preliminary deal with Shell, RWI believes the 2008 "Heads of Agreement" document could hinder Iraq's ability to develop its own gas sector in accordance with its fundamental public policies. Read more ...September 8, 2009
RWI NEWSLETTER: September 2009
Find out about the first Africa Regional Extractive Industry Knowledge Hub in Ghana, Revenue Watch's response to the U.S. administration's promotion of transparency, repression of civil society activists in Africa, developments in International Accounting Standards Board reforms, a RWI policy brief on Ghana's prospects for avoiding the "oil curse," and a new report on arguments for disaggregated EITI reporting. Also learn about Revenue Watch's activities and partner projects in Africa, Latin America, Eurasia, Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Read more ...September 4, 2009
Revenue Watch Pilots "Regional Hub" for Capacity Building
This July in Accra, Ghana, Revenue Watch and its partners took a remarkable step in building local capacity with the launch of our first Africa Regional Extractive Industry Knowledge Hub. Two dozen civil society activists, local government officials, parliamentary staff and media representatives from Tanzania, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Ghana attended the inaugural course on "Governance in Oil, Mining and Gas Revenues."Read more ...September 4, 2009
To Succeed, an Iraqi National Oil Company Needs an Iraqi Oil Law
This summer, the Iraqi Cabinet agreed upon a bill establishing a new National Oil Company to help develop the country's petroleum and ramp up production to increase government revenue. A strong commercial company with a clear mandate could be instrumental in revitalizing Iraq's oil sector. However, a national company will be doomed to fail if it arrives unaccompanied by core laws to govern Iraq's oil sector. Since the fall of Saddam, Iraq's oil industry has been without a firm legal or institutional regime, creating a vacuum of policy that hobbles Iraq's prospects for stability, prosperity and investment in essential public programs. Read more ...August 26, 2009
Niger Increases Repression of Transparency Activists
The international Publish What You Pay coalition reports that yet another Nigerien transparency activist, Wada Maman, was arrested by authorities on August 22. Maman, the Secretary General of Transparency International's Niger chapter and a PWYP member, was released on bail on August 26, and is charged with "public property damage" and "participation in an unauthorized gathering," after demonstrating against changes in presidential term limits. His arrest follows that of PWYP member Marou Amadou, and the subsequent withdrawal of civil society leadership from the EITI process in protest of government repression. Revenue Watch joins PWYP in calling for Amadou's release and the end of harassment of transparency campaigners. Read more ... | Français (Publish What You Pay)August 21, 2009
PWYP Welcomes Release of Detained DRC Transparency Activist
Publish What You Pay International cheers the release of human rights and transparency campaigner Golden Misabiko by authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Misabiko, who is in poor health, was arrested on July 24 and charged with "undermining State security," "making defamatory statements" and "inciting public rebellion against state authorities." The arrest followed a report alleging corrupt mining practices in the country and demanding public release of a new government contract. PWYP calls for all charges against Misabiko to be dropped and for assurance that DRC civil society activists can freely campaign for transparency without fear of reprisals. Read more ... (Publish What You Pay)August 19, 2009
Harassment of Activists Stalls EITI Process in Niger
On August 16 the civil society leadership within Niger's Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative announced their collective withdrawal from the process until the Nigerien government provides both a greater guarantee of safety and non-harassment of activists for good governance, and the unconditional release of detained transparency activist Marou Amadou. The detention of Amadou comes amidst broader restrictions on the free speech of Nigerien civil society, transparency activists and members of the press. Read more ...August 14, 2009
Revenue Watch and PWYP Demand Release of Niger Human Rights Activist
On August 12, transparency activist and Publish What You Pay member Marou Amadou was seized by national security forces in Niamey, Niger. He is currently being held in a high-security prison where authorities continue to deny him medical attention despite reports of his deteriorating health. The harassment of Amadou is part of a disturbing pattern of official intimidation against campaigners for good governance. Read more ... | FrançaisAugust 12, 2009
In Uganda, NGOs Make Progress on Oil Issues Despite Government Unease
Uganda's nascent oil sector took important steps during 2009, including the announcement of tentative plans for a new government refinery and the shaping of an implementation framework for the National Oil and Gas policy. Both events have slowed government progress on the new oil sector, but Ugandan civil society is taking advantage of the delay to foster greater community awareness about engaging with government and industry. RWI CA fellows Sophie Kutegeka and Nelly Busingye report on new civil society developments in Uganda. Read more ...August 11, 2009
RWI Welcomes Capacity Advancement Fellows from Mozambique and Sudan
Revenue Watch Institute is pleased to introduce its new CA Fellows for 2009-2010: Dionisio Augusto Nombora, of the Center for Public Integrity in Mozambique, and Jamus Joseph, of Norwegian People's Aid Southern Sudan Program. The CA Fellowship is a year-long program that aims to build the capacity of mid-career civil society activists to develop a cadre of future leaders in the extractive industries transparency campaigns. Read more ...August 10, 2009
Secretary Clinton Calls for "Sunlight" in Africa
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's seven-country tour of Africa has brought transparency and accountability issues into the spotlight, as Clinton argued that economic development depends on cooperation between government, industry and civil society in the push for better governance and responsible management of resource wealth. Revenue Watch commends Secretary Clinton for her focus on these issues, but also urges her to press forward with more attention to the specific needs and challenges in Africa's varied resource-rich nations. Read more ...July 30, 2009
Revenue Watch Calls for End to Harassment and Detention of Civil Society Leader in DRC
RWI joins Publish What You Pay in calling for the Democratic Republic of Congo to immediately release Golden Misabiko, a campaigner for transparency and human rights. Misabiko was arrested on July 24 by the national intelligence office and charged with "undermining State security" and "making defamatory statements." It is the latest act of government harassment against him following a report alleging corrupt mining practices and demanding public release of the new contract between the DRC and French nuclear power multinational AREVA. Read more ... | FrançaisJuly 27, 2009
Project on Government Oversight Receives Sunshine Award for Investigation of U.S. Minerals Management Service
This July, the Project on Government Oversight was awarded the Society of Professional Journalists' national Sunshine Award for its contributions in the area of open government. The award was based on three 2008 POGO investigations, including their 13-year investigation into the Department of Interior's Minerals Management Service, which exposed a culture of widespread managerial irresponsibility, including significant problems in the royalty collection undertaken by the department's auditing and compliance division. Read more ...July 27, 2009
Making the Case for Company-by-Company EITI Reporting
Since the inception of the EITI, the method of reporting company payments to governments has been one of the most contentious issues, specifically, whether disclosures should be made on a disaggregated, company-by-company basis or in aggregated form. In this Revenue Watch report, author Sefton Darby examines the most common arguments for aggregated reporting, details their weaknesses, and presents stronger arguments that civil society groups can use when presenting disaggregated reporting as the preferable alternative. Read more and download the full report ...July 23, 2009
Sofia Natural Gas Summit Highlights Transparency
Transparency was at the forefront of discussions on Europe's energy future at the summit on "Natural Gas for Europe: Security and Partnership" in Sofia, Bulgaria this spring. In the Declaration of the Sofia Energy Summit, participating government workers, heads of state and diplomats agreed upon the need for transparency, accountability and improved public financial reporting concerning natural gas policies in Europe. Read more ...July 23, 2009
Liberia Signs Milestone Transparency Measures into Law
The Revenue Watch Institute applauds the Liberian government for its recent passage of the Liberian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Act: the most thorough legislation of its kind in any resource-rich nation. The LEITI Act, which requires that all extractive payments due to the country are verified, accounted for and utilized for the benefit of Liberian citizens, builds on ongoing efforts to promote greater transparency and accountability in Liberia, through disaggregated reporting and the disclosure and review of contracts. Read more ...July 22, 2009
Russia Returns to Africa
This June, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev undertook an historic four-day trip to Africa, visiting Angola, Egypt, Nigeria and Namibia. In all four African countries, Medvedev held high-level talks and signed numerous bilateral agreements aimed at boosting trade and economic ties between the countries. During the Cold War, Africa was a key battleground for the competing political ideologies of the Communist state and the West. Two decades later, Russia is trying to restore these relationships—based this time on mutual economic benefit, rather than ideological ambition. Read more ...July 21, 2009
Turkmenistan's Dilemma
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the Central Asian state of Turkmenistan was left with substantial natural gas endowments, but a poorly diversified export market that left it reliant on the monopolistic Russian gas giant Gazprom. An explosion along a Turkmen-Russia pipeline this spring has brought Turkmenistan's problematic reliance on Russian marketing into sharp relief. In the second installment of a two-part analysis, RWI Senior Economist Akram Esanov explores Turkmenistan's dilemma, and its options for breaking Gazprom's monopoly over its most marketable resource. Read more ...July 21, 2009
RWI and Oxfam America Host Discussions of Extractive Industry Transparency in Latin America
On Friday, July 31, Oxfam America and Revenue Watch Institute will present two public panel discussions on the connection between natural resources, conflict and political stability in Latin America. This half-day event will facilitate the exchange of information to support increased transparency and improved governance in Latin America. In particular, the event aims to create a forum for creative thinking on outstanding transparency challenges in the region and opportunities for international engagement around these issues. Read more ...July 20, 2009
Afghanistan's Oil Bids Bode Well for Transparency
While Afghanistan prepares for upcoming elections and debates U.S. troop levels, its Ministries of Mines and Finances are working quietly to improve governance and secure sources of long-term revenue for the country. This summer, the Afghan Ministry of Mines is accepting bids on three oil and gas blocks in Afghanistan. While these fields won't bring windfall revenues to Afghanistan, Afghanistan's open and public process of auctioning these fields nonetheless represents the government's resolve to promote transparency and accountability. Read more ...July 20, 2009
Indonesia Expected to Announce EITI Plans
Indonesia will likely soon announce their intention to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), beginning with a Presidential Regulation, "Implementation of Transparency in State and Regional Revenue from the Extractive Industries," that will control how state revenue from the mining sector is reported. A translated report from Jakarta has more information. Read more ...July 13, 2009
RWI-OSI Investigation Uncovers Obstructions to Information Access in Azerbaijan
In 2005, Azerbaijan adopted an ambitious information access law, allowing citizens to request and receive information from any public institution. A new report released by the Revenue Watch Institute and the Open Society Institute-Assistance Foundation Azerbaijan assesses how well the intentions of this law were carried out in 2007 and 2008, and finds that the reality in Azerbaijan falls far short of the ideal. Read more and download the full report ...July 10, 2009
RWI Releases Report on Resource Management in Latin America, 2000-2005
Recent years have brought important changes to the oil sector in several Latin American countries. Though regional reports have suggested increasing state control over the industry, in fact there are far more diverse trends and practices. This survey by economist Humberto Campodonico offers detailed insights into the varied approaches to oil sector management in eight Latin American countries between 2000 and 2005 that help explain the recent transformation of the regional environment for petroleum operations. Read more and download the full report ...July 9, 2009
As Obama Travels to Ghana, RWI Calls for Oversight of Oil Wealth
On the eve of President Barack Obama's historic visit to Ghana, Revenue Watch called on U.S. and Ghanaian leaders to make good governance the centerpiece of energy policy in both nations. With an upcoming oil windfall that some estimate at nearly one billion barrels, Ghana faces great opportunity and great risks. RWI director Karin Lissakers said the U.S. must partner with Ghana not only to secure oil supply lines, but also "to secure the well-being and economic participation of all who live there." Read more ... | FrançaisJuly 1, 2009
Azeri Groups Celebrate as Restrictions Are Removed from New NGO Law
Civil society groups in Azerbaijan won a crucial victory on June 30, when the Parliament set aside a raft of dangerous measures before its final vote on a new law regulating NGO activities. The proposals threatened the entire civil society community and would have directly affected local advocates fighting for extractive industry transparency. Read more ...June 25, 2009
Peruvian Democracy Agonizes at the Devil's Turn
Two weeks after deadly clashes between Peru's indigenous groups and the national police, both sides gathered in Lima for the announcement of a public dialogue on resource development in the Amazon region. At least 34 people—police and protestors—were killed during the recent two-month strike over controversial land use and development laws that threatened to strip away any control by the indigenous people over their own lands or natural resources. Despite the reduction in violence, the country remains highlighly polarized, with its democratic institutions weakened. Read more ... | EspañolJune 23, 2009
Troubled Gas Giant Faces Falling Demand
In April, a pipeline explosion disrupted natural gas supplies from Turkmenistan to Russia, possibly because state-controlled Russian company Gazprom had abruptly shut down the pipeline in response to shrinking European demand. The accident didn't just create a raucous diplomatic clash between Russia and Turkmenistan, it also underscored the massive financial challenges facing Gazprom, and the efforts of gas-rich Central Asian countries to diversify their markets beyond dependence on Russia. Read more ...June 4, 2009
Helsinki Commission Co-Chair Heralds Revenue Transparency
On Thursday Congressman Alcee L. Hastings, the Co-Chair of the United States Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, called for resource-rich countries to be more transparent about the revenues that oil, gas or minerals generate for their countries. Improved transparency, Hastings said, would help alleviate poverty, promote stable investment, and enhance energy security to help create more stable business environments and democratic governments. Hastings' comments followed similar remarks he made last week to 100 parlimentarians from 30 countries gathered in Ireland to discuss the economic crisis. Read more ... (United States Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe)June 1, 2009
"Stealth" Oil Agreements Threaten Azerbaijan's Reputation and Policy Progress
Citizen groups in Azerbaijan have decried two new state oil development contracts signed without public notice, in a reversal of years of commendable transparency in oil negotiations. The deals covering four oil fields were made with a relatively unknown company and in the absence of the financial and training provisions that would normally benefit Azerbaijan in such an agreement. This backwards step ironically comes after the country's validation as the first state compliant with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Read more ... (OSI-Azerbaijan)May 28, 2009
International Budget Partnership Releases Budget Brief for Donors
The IBP, which released its annual Open Budget Index for 2008 this February, has created a new brief exploring the importance of budget transparency for donors, to help ensure the effectiveness of aid to reduce poverty and promote sustainable economic growth while preventing leakages, corruption, and mismanagement. In "Improving Budget Transparency and Accountability in Aid Dependent Countries: How Can Donors Help?" (pdf) IBP also provides recommendations to the international donor community and International Financial Institutions. Read more and download full brief ... (International Budget Partnership)May 27, 2009
Can Ghana Avoid the Oil Curse?
In a policy briefing on resource revenue management in Ghana, Antoine Heuty of RWI and Andres Mejia Acosta of the Institute of Development Studies explore how domestic political factors may influence development outcomes through the management of natural resource revenues. Though much of Ghana's population lives in poverty, the country appears to have avoided some of the traditional "curses" associated with resource-rich, aid-dependent countries. Building on policy lessons from the management of Ghana's gold and cocoa, Heuty and Mejia Acosta analyze possible scenarios for sharing the windfall from the newly discovered oil resources. Read more and download full report ...May 27, 2009
Efficiency of Public Spending in Resource-Rich Post-Soviet States
Public spending can be a powerful tool for resource rich countries to improve development and the delivery of public services. However, a growing body of literature documents inept and inefficient government spending decisions and execution of public sector projects—particularly in developing nations where poor capacity and weakened institutions exacerbate the situation. In these countries, new revenue windfalls from resource exploitation risk being squandered on inefficient spending and projects that do little to improve public services. Revenue Watch Senior Economist Akram Esanov probes these questions in a new report, "Efficiency of Public Spending in Resource-Rich Post-Soviet States." Read more and download full report ...May 19, 2009
Fulbright Fellow Maps Corruption in Nigeria's Oil Sector
Corruption is widely perceived as a long-standing and influential component of Nigeria's oil sector operations. In a two-part policy brief published by the Christian Michelsen Institute, Fulbright Fellow Alexandra Gillies provides an introductory mapping of where this corruption takes place, how it impairs sector operations, and the efforts at its reduction. Read more ...May 18, 2009
World Bank EITI Reporting Meeting Focuses on Disaggregation
As part of "EITI Week" in Washington, D.C., the World Bank hosted a meeting on May 13 to facilitate a discussion among multiple EITI stakeholders about the state of EITI reporting and how it can be improved. While the format and content of EITI reports has always been a source of debate, improved trust among the various stakeholders in the EITI process—civil society, government and industry—may help further the standard of disaggregated company reports of payments. RWI's Rebecca Iwerks attended and reports on the conversations and debates that took place. Read more ...May 15, 2009
The Amazon's Indigenous Community Strikes to Protest Natural Resource Policies in Peru
After a month of massive rallies and protests, pumping station shutdowns, a widespread state of emergency and military intervention, a roundtable discussion is imminent between the government of Peru and the leadership of the Amazon's indigenous community over the question of allowing large-scale mining, oil and gas projects in ancestral indigenous lands. RWI Latin America team, Carlos Monge, Claudia Viale and Leon Portocarrero, report on the background and context of the ongoing indigenous strikes and the Peruvian Law Decrees on extractive activity that sparked them, and what can be expected out of the new negotiations. Read more ...
| EspañolMay 15, 2009
Transparency Advocates Discuss EITI Implementation at Sub-National Roundtable
On May 12, the EITI Secretariat hosted a roundtable discussion about opportunities to broaden EITI to also include sub-national regions. Though working with sub-national regions has been an EITI interest for several years, Ghana is currently the only implementing country to report sub-national revenues. Revenue Watch Senior Economist Antoine Heuty spoke about RWI's extensive work at the sub-national level in Nigeria's Bayelsa state and the meeting included perspectives from ongoing sub-national work in Peru, Colombia and Ghana. Read more ...May 14, 2009
RWI Calls for U.S. Implementation of EITI
Revenue Watch is urging U.S. and foreign policymakers to embrace the standards and principles of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), as its leaders gathered this week in Washington. U.S. endorsement of the initiative would set a powerful example for the rest of the world. "The standards for government revenue disclosure and for civil society engagement call for new practices, but bring great reward in terms of reputation, trust and profitability," said RWI chair Anthony Richter. Read more ... | Français | EspañolMay 11-15, 2009
EITI Updates from Washington, D.C.
From May 11-15, leaders from the global transparency movement met in the United States. All last week and in the following days, Revenue Watch posted updates and reflections from events convened by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the World Bank. EITI board member and Revenue Watch chairman Anthony Richter also blogged throughout the week's events, which culminated in the formal meeting of the EITI Board. Read more ...May 12, 2009
Today's Silk Road: The New Front Line for Transparency?
As the natural gas payment disputes between Russia and Ukraine this winter demonstrated, there is a great need for transparency in energy trade and transit, and RWI continues to work with its partners in post-Soviet countries to advocate expanding the EITI agenda to include transit revenues. RWI Caucasus and Central Asia Regional Coordinator Galib Efendiev reports on the strides made at a meeting last week in Prague, as leaders from the European Union and several post-Soviet countries laid the groundwork for a new era of policy cooperation and reform between the EU and Europe's "Eastern neighborhood" in an effort to reduce Europe's heavy energy dependence on Russia and realign the balance of power in the region's energy sector. Read more ...May 1, 2009
PWYP Leaders Send Open Letter to Obama on Transparency
On April 24, 13 leaders of U.S.-based human rights, development, faith-based, and environmental groups, including RWI Director Karin Lissakers, joined the Publish What You Pay Coalition in a letter to President Obama urging him to make transparency and accountability a priority of U.S. domestic and foreign policy. The groups said, in part, that "Only by knowing how much money is flowing into a country can the citizens of that country and international organizations hold a government accountable for spending those funds to build infrastructure, educate its people and plan for a future when the nation’s natural resources have run out." Read more ... (Publish What You Pay)April 22, 2009
Revenue Watch Institute Applauds Gabonese Activist Marc Ona for International Environmental Prize
The Revenue Watch Institute congratulates its grantee and partner Marc Ona, the coordinator of the Publish What You Pay coalition in Gabon, for winning the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for 2009. The prize is awarded annually to grassroots environmental heroes on each of six continents. After undergoing a year of harassment from Gabonese authorities, "Marc Ona's courage as a campaigner for responsible resource management has helped the people of Gabon hold their government to account," said Julie McCarthy, Revenue Watch deputy director. "Revenue Watch and the entire global transparency movement are delighted to see his leadership recognized." Read more ... | FrançaisApril 20, 2009
Marc Ona, Champion of Environment and Good Governance in Africa, Honored
Activist and RWI grantee Marc Ona was announced Monday as the African winner of the Goldman Environment Prize for 2009, in recognition of his leadership protecting Gabon's Ivindo National Park from the impact of the massive Belinga mining project. Ona, who is Publish What You Pay coordinator for Gabon, is also one of several advocates harassed by government officials in recent months for their pursuit of sound environmental policy and responsible revenue management. Read more ... | Français (Publish What You Pay)April 17, 2009
RWI Legal Analyst Addresses World Bank EI Week
Matthew Genasci, legal analyst at RWI, recently spoke in Washington, D.C., at a conference on "Improving EI Benefits for the Poor." The March event was part of the World Bank's Extractive Industries Week. In a panel on the negotiation of mining and oil legal agreements, Genasci explained RWI's multifaceted "value chain" approach to improving resource management, and emphasized that effective contract negotiation--a key focus of Revenue Watch's work in Africa and around the world--is crucial for successful reforms. Read more ...April 10, 2009
AUDIO: Experts Discuss Nigeria's Progress on Transparency
On April 6, leaders in Nigeria's transparency effort and an expert on the politics of oil joined Revenue Watch to offer first-hand perspectives on the struggle to promote good governance and citizen participation in the oil-rich Niger Delta. RWI guests include Dimieari Von Kemedi, head of due process and e-governance for Bayelsa State, Asume Isaac Osuoka, founder of the Niger Delta Citizens and Budget Platform, and Alexandra Gillies of the University of Cambridge. Read more and listen to audio from the panel ...April 9, 2009
NIGERIA: Halliburton, Bribes and the Deceit of "Zero-Tolerance" for Corruption
Halliburton and its former subsidiary KBR recently agreed to the largest corruption settlement ever paid by a U.S. company under the FCPA. Their historic guilty plea is only the latest in a string of high-level bribery cases in Nigeria and around the globe involving major multinationals. In commentary from Nigeria, Revenue Watch's Dauda Garuba asks how Nigeria will respond, and whether it can honor its pledge of no tolerance for corruption. Read more ...April 8, 2009
Revenue Watch Urges Caution as Turbulent Madagascar Looks Toward Mining Contracts Review
After statements by Madagascar's newly-installed leader regarding a suspension and review of all national mining contracts, Revenue Watch cautions the nation against undertaking major extractive reforms during the current period of crisis. Any significant review of Madagascar's contracts should only be conducted with firm assurances of transparency and a thorough expert analysis of the impact of any revised provisions. Read more ...April 6, 2009
Assessing the Major Debates in Minerals Taxation
The International Council on Mining and Minerals (ICMM) recently launched a well-thought-out review of design and implementation challenges for minerals taxation regimes. Revenue Watch was heartened by the report's strong endorsement for increased transparency in extraction taxes, and by its support for the EITI and for new levels of disclosure in the fiscal terms governing mining projects. Read more ...April 1, 2009
RWI NEWSLETTER: March 2009
Find out about the fourth EITI Global Conference, the progress of RWI's innovative sub-national pilot projects and meeting in Piura, Peru, new RWI reports on Liberian concessions and EITI for legislators, five RWI recommendations for resource-rich nations in times of crisis, and an RWI conference on efficient public spending in Central Asia. Also learn about Revenue Watch's activities and partner projects in Africa, Latin America, Eurasia, Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Read the full newsletter ... | Español | FrançaisMarch 30, 2009
Congolese Civil Society Chides Government on Contract Negotiation
A coalition of civil society organizations from the Democratic Republic of Congo's natural resources sector have released a statement challenging their government to improve its position on Congolese mining legislation following what they consider a flawed mining contracts review process last December. Among the groups' recommendations are calls that the government insist that the relevant companies consent to renegotiate on two key mining contracts that as of yet remain unaltered; that extractive companies comply with government regulations with regard to payments; that the government include civil society in contract renegotiations; and that they publish the terms of all final contracts. Read more ... (Southern Africa Resource Watch)March 27, 2009
As Sarkozy Tours Africa, PWYP Coalition Calls on France to Champion Accountability
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was on a two-day tour this week that included three resource-rich African nations. To ensure fairer sharing of revenues between industry and nations like Niger and the Democratic Republic of Congo, France must do more to increase transparancy and honor its own commitment to accountable natural resource management. Read more ... (Publish What You Pay)March 24, 2009
Burma's "Golden Gas" Fuels Oppression
A video from Burma reveals the links between ongoing oppression and profits from the oil and gas industries. Revenue Watch grantee the Shwe Gas Movement presents the little-told story of how residents living atop the largest gas deposit in Southeast Asia lack their own electricity and face massive relocation without compensation to make way for a $52 billion gas development. Read more ...March 12, 2009
Banking Industry Facilitates Resource Curse Corruption
Revenue Watch partner Global Witness has released a new report, "Undue Diligence: How banks do business with corrupt regimes," examining how major banks are playing a role in perpetuating the resource curse by doing business with unethical regimes. Global Witness has uncovered ties between banks and dictatorial regimes in Equatorial Guinea, vicious civil wars in Africa, human rights abusers in Central Asia and opaque extractive companies operating in Angola. The report recommends that anti-money laundering laws be tightened as well as a cultural change in the way banks perform "due diligence" in checking their customers. Read more ... (Global Witness)March 11, 2009
ECUADOR: Report Provides a Close-Up View of Revenue Management
Though Ecuador is a relatively small oil producer in the world market, oil extraction is still a significant part of its national economy. Recent government reform efforts have sparked a debate over the oil sector's contribution to the country's well-being. In this context, a new report from Revenue Watch partner Grupo Faro clarifies the government's uses of oil revenues and makes recommendations for improved transparency. Read more and download the full report (Spanish) ...
March 9, 2009
Ghana Sheds Light on Oil Contracts
The Government of Ghana has declared its decision to publicly disclose all present and future contracts with oil companies. While citizen groups and international financial institutions have called upon countries to disclose these contracts, very few actually do. As Ghana is on the brink of becoming an important player in Africa's oil industry, RWI executive director Karin Lissakers says that, "This plan for increased transparency helps secure Ghana's stability amid the current financial crisis." Read more ...
March 5, 2009
Expanding the EITI Agenda to Transportation of Hydrocarbon Resources
Revenue Watch partners from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and the Ukraine have collaborated in a groundbreaking policy brief advocating for the expansion of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to include hydrocarbon transit and transportation. The report explores the significant socio-economic impacts of the transit sector on host countries. Read more and download the full text of the report ...
March 5, 2009
Oil-Rich Bayelsa State Reaches Milestone in Sub-National Revenue Oversight
On March 5, oil industry leaders, regional government officials and citizen groups met to launch a landmark effort at shared oversight of oil revenues and expenditures. The Bayelsa Expenditure and Income Transparency Initiative puts the Niger Delta state at the forefront of the transparency and disclosure movement among resource-producing countries. Bayelsa State Governor Chief Timipre Sylva said "The business of governance is too important to be left to politicians and government officials alone." Read more ... | FrançaisMarch 3, 2009
Drafting a Charter to Guide the World's Use of Natural Resources
Revenue Watch Institute and a team of economists and legal and environmental experts are collaborating on the creation of an international Natural Resource Charter. The pioneering document offers policy makers in resource-rich countries a vision and a blueprint for the future of their country's natural resource sector. Read more ...February 27, 2009
LIBERIA: Scrutinizing China-Union's Landmark Iron Ore Agreement
China Union and the Government of the Republic of Liberia have recently signed a 25-year agreement to mine and explore for iron ore in the Bong Range of Liberia in the largest ever foreign investment in Liberia. Revenue Watch and Columbia University have prepared an assessment of the final contract, focusing on the fiscal framework it establishes and highlighting issues that warrant close scrutiny by Liberia's legislature. Read more or download the full report ... (pdf)February 26, 2009
RWI Releases Report on Liberian Contract Negotiations
This new and comprehensive report demonstrates the need for more equitable terms in natural resource contracts and the pivotal role that the contract process can play in economic recovery and development. After a two-year renegotiation process, Liberia secured significant gains in its rubber and steel contracts, in areas from taxation and environment to housing and education. On February 26, Revenue Watch hosted a panel with Liberian Minister Natty B. Davis and other experts to discuss concession negotiations and lessons from Liberia's successes. Read more, listen to audio from the panel and download the full report ...February 26, 2009
Devaluing Currencies and Empty Oil Coffers Spark Fears in Russia and Central Asia
The sharp decline of Kazakhstan's national currency during February has sent shockwaves through the country's economy. Akram Esanov and Morgan Mandeville analyze the financial woes of Kazakhstan and its Central Asian neighbors and the opportunities that wavering local currencies have created for Russian resurgence in the region. Read more ...February 20, 2009
As Commodity Prices Plummet, National Oil Companies Look to Transparency to Assure Investors and Protect Growth
Oil companies in resource-rich nations are recognizing the power of investor trust and a focus on national development as their best tools for survival in the current financial crisis. At a Revenue Watch meeting held during this week's global EITI conference, companies voiced anxiety about losing revenue and setting aside regulatory reforms that could lead to long-term fiscal and national growth. Read more ...February 18, 2009
Global Integrity Cites Information Access Among Key Challenges in Anti-Corruption Report
On February 18, Global Integrity launched its 2008 Integrity report, a review of anti-corruption practices in 57 countries. The report compiles the work of hundreds of journalists and researchers from around the world on local anti-corruption safeguards, and includes the group's first-ever reports on Iraq and Somalia. Key findings include: continuing failures in political finance regulation; the need for better government information access in the Arab world; both improved and worsened performance issues in key countries such as China, Kenya and Russia; and critical challenges in the Horn of Africa. Read more ...February 17, 2009
Analyzing the Local Impact of the International Crisis in Latin America
With commodity prices dropping, the global fiscal crisis is likely to have harsh consquences for resource-dependent countries like Peru, in particular for governments at the regional and local level. In this Revenue Watch analysis, Latin America Coordinator Carlos Monge and Claudia Viale analyze three regions of Peru that are representative of the country's extractive activities, to assess the possible effects of the downturn, and the difficult choices for resource-rich nations when boom times are reversed. Read more ... | EspañolFebruary 17, 2009
GHANA: Proceed with Care
As a new oil-producing "hot spot," Ghana must move forward cautiously and make serious efforts towards transparency, accountability and development, warns a new report from RWI partners Oxfam America and the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) in Ghana. Ghana is poised for an oil boom that could flood the country with billions of dollars in new revenue after the discovery of its first major offshore field. However, with such windfall revenues comes the threat of increasing poverty, corruption and conflict. The report identifies crucial steps for government, donors, oil companies, civil society and press, including: transparent revenue and payment practices, open and competitive contract bidding, and active monitoring and participation by civil society, as well as a call for a government moratorium on new licensing, to allow legal and institutional improvements on oil development and revenue issues. Read more ... (Oxfam America)February 16, 2009
Revenue Watch Offers Five Recommendations for Resource-Rich Nations in Times of Crisis
With the dramatic changes in the global economy, developing countries face grave challenges for resource revenue management. Revenue Watch's new analysis examines the impact of this turmoil on resource-rich countries, and offers five recommendations for effective revenue management in times of "commodity shock." Governments, companies and civil society groups working to strengthen public benefit from resource wealth have lived in "times of plenty" for the past decade. The analysis by RWI senior economist Antoine Heuty provides a starting point for countries seeking to mitigate volatility and safeguard the prospects for sound development. Read more and download the full analysis ...February 16, 2009
New Guide for Legislators Gives Tools for Strengthening Transparency
Jointly produced by Revenue Watch, the National Democratic Institute, the EITI Secretariat, and USAID, our guide provides a roadmap to understanding resource revenue management. The improved transparency that can result from EITI implementation helps build public trust in democratic institutions and increases the chances that natural resources will be used for the public good. Legislators with EITI expertise can help their countries to achieve these goals and in the process establish themselves as leaders on good governance and transparency issues. Read more and download the Guide ...February 5, 2009
NIGER: Parliamentarian Questions Assembly President on Mining Permits
While the country of Niger, in Western Africa, is reaping greater benefits from mining revenues, its progress towards transparency is more uneven. In the wake of questionable mining permit grants, parliamentarian Mahaman Nomao Djika has called for a more open grants process in a public letter to President of the National Assembly Mahaman Nomao Djika Niamey. Read more ...
February 3, 2009
ANÁLISIS QUINCENAL: Transparency and Extractives Update from Latin America
Fresh news and insight from Carlos Monge, RWI Latin America Regional Coordinator, and Revenue Watch colleagues. Issue February 3 covers the likely impact of Bolivia's new constitution on the relationship between the state and the extractive sector, the search for financing among Latin American companies, and the methods being sought to compensate for sector volatility. Read more ... | EspañolFebruary 3, 2009
Open Budget Index Links Poor Performance, Lack of Transparency
The new 2008 report from the International Budget Partnership reveals a direct connection between poor performance in resource-dependent countries and a lack of budget transparency and accountability, according to an analysis of the data by Revenue Watch. The Open Budget Index is an independent, comparative measure of government budget transparency in 85 countries, which this year also include China, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Read more about the analysis and hear audio from a live panel discussion ...January 27, 2009
Azerbaijan EITI Validation Progresses, as EITI Plans for Country Awards
The fourth annual EITI Global Conference in Doha this February will include the first-ever presentation of the EITI Chairman's Awards for "partners who have shown leadership in establishing resource transparency since the last EITI conference." Among the awards categories is an award for the EITI Implementing Country Award. Most likely the nomination for this award will go to the country that successfully passes the validation process. As Azerbaijan is the only country to have begun validation procedures among the more than 20 countries at different stages of EITI implementation, it's an important occasion to assess one country's validation successes and remaining challenges. Read more ...January 23, 2009
U.S. Congress Condemns Arrest and Detention of Anti-Corruption Advocates in Gabon
In a bipartisan rebuke against corruption, several members of the U.S. Congress condemned the government of Gabon for the arrest and detention of five anti-corruption advocates and demanded that all charges be dropped. Following a campaign of government harrassment, the men were arrested on New Year's Eve, held initially without formal charges, and then released on January 12th. Despite their release, the charges are still pending. In a letter to Gabon's president El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba, U.S. Representative Ed Royce, Representative Barney Frank and others said that Members of Congress are "extremely alarmed that independent Gabonese civil society members campaigning against misuse of public funds face harassment and intimidation by government authorities." Read more ...January 16, 2009
GABON: PWYP Calls on Gabon to Drop All Charges Against Released Activists
The Publish What You Pay coalition said today that the Gabonese authorities should drop all charges against civil society activists facing unfounded accusations, and guarantee their rights. PWYP Gabon members Marc Ona and George Mpaga were arrested on December 31, 2008 along with a civil servant and two journalists. They spent a total of 12 days in detention in appalling conditions which fall well below recognized international norms, with no access to sanitation or medical facilities. While the men were finally released this week, they remain charged with "possession of a document for dissemination ... of propaganda" and "propaganda for incitement of rebellion." These arrests and imprisonments follow a campaign of government harassment against Ona and others decrying the urgent need for transparency and accountability in Gabon's oil and mining sectors. Read more ...January 16, 2009
NGOs in Mozambique Launch "Publish What You Pay" Coalition
On November 28, 2008, in Maputo, Mozambique, a group of civil society organizations based in the capital and in resource-rich areas launched a national "Publish What You Pay" coalition to monitor development and government policies in the extractives industries. The coalition was formed under the auspices of G20, the Civil Society Platform for the Monitoring of Development. The coalition launches as the government moves ahead with plans for Mozambique to join the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI). Read more ... | PortuguêsJanuary 13, 2009
GHANA: Elections and the Transparency Outlook
On January 7, 2009, Ghana successfully conducted a peaceful political transition from ex-President John Agyekum Kuffour of the New Patriotic Party, who had been in power since 2000, to President JEA Mills of the National Democratic Congress. The election followed closely contested presidential and parliamentary elections on December 7 and the subsequent run-off on December 28. These results have several implications for revenue transparency initiatives in Ghana, where commercial quantities of oil were discovered in 2007. With drilling scheduled to begin in mid-2010, the country has been preparing for an oil boom which could eclipse the country's mining revenues. Read more ...January 9, 2009
Modernizing Pemex: New Reforms Focus on Regulation
Revenue Watch policy analyst Juan Carlos Quiroz analyzes reforms currently underway at Mexico's national oil company and delves into the history of Pemex and its relationship to Mexico's energy sector. New initiatives by the Mexican Congress would allow the state monopoly greater flexibility when seeking contracts with private companies, and greater potential control over energy reserves and production. The goal of these reforms is to modernize Pemex and reverse declines in production and reserves without liberalizing the energy sector. Read more ... | EspañolJanuary 9, 2009
GABON: Anti-Corruption Advocates Imprisoned On Trumped-Up Charges
The Publish What You Pay coalition condemns the imprisonment of four Gabonese anti-corruption activists on spurious charges and calls on the government to release the prisoners and restore their human rights. Gabon PWYP co-ordinator Marc Ona Essangi and member Georges Mpaga are among five men arrested on December 31 and now charged with "possession of a document for dissemination ... of propaganda" and "propaganda for incitement of rebellion." These arrests follow a campaign of government harassment against Ona and others decrying the urgent need for transparency and accountability in Gabon's oil and mining sectors. Read more ... | FrançaisJanuary 5, 2009
Publish What You Pay Condemns Arbitrary Arrest of Anti-Corruption Campaigners in Gabon and Calls for Their Release
The global Publish What You Pay coalition is calling for the release of five Gabonese anti-corruption activists, including PWYP Gabon co-ordinator Marc Ona and member Georges Mpaga. All five individuals were arrested on December 31 with no formal charges or official warrants against them. These arrests follow a campaign of government harassment against Ona and other activists who continue to speak out about the management of public money in Gabon and the urgent need for transparency and accountability in the oil and mining sectors. Read more ... | FrançaisDecember 17, 2008
Competition and the EITD Act: Letter to the Editor
In the December 17 Houston Chronicle, Revenue Watch legal fellow Susan Maples responds to a recent article about proposed new company disclosure rules in the Extractive Industries Transparency Disclosure Act now making its way through the U.S. Congress. Read more ...December 14, 2008
MULTIMEDIA: NYT Explores the Paradox of Plenty in Africa
New York Times editor and former East Africa bureau chief Ian Fisher examines the linked histories of conflict, poverty and natrual resource wealth in Africa, including sections on oil and minerals. Read more ... (The New York Times)December 12, 2008
Hunting White Elephants in Kazakhstan
In three post-Soviet countries, a new awareness of the resource curse is growing. Revenue Watch and the Soros Foundation Kazakhstan gathered more than fifty leaders in Kazakhstan last month for conference on efficiency in public spending. Like other oil-rich countries, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia have struggled with the paradox of abundant resource wealth combined with a plague of social ills, but they are now exploring ways to take the transparency movement a step further, and apply the same standard of openness that guides revenue oversight to the question of public spending. Read more ... |
December 10, 2008
U.S. Senator Examines the Resource Curse
Senator Dick Lugar, a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, takes on the resource curse in The Christian Science Monitor, writing that "oil and natural gas reserves frequently can be a bane, not a blessing, for poor countries, leading to corruption, wasteful spending, military adventurism, and instability." The Indiana Republican spoke in support of extractive industry transparency during a September hearing on the Extractive Transparency Disclosure Act (EITD) which also included testimony by Revenue Watch experts. Earlier this year, Lugar commissioned an analysis of more than 20 resource-rich countries, resulting in a Foreign Relations Committee report, "The Petroleum and Poverty Paradox," and a series of prescriptions for both the U.S. and the international community. Read more ... (The Christian Science Monitor)December 10, 2008
GHANA: Elections and the Transparency Outlook
Ghana's electoral commission has released the results of the nation's closely-watched December 7 elections. Returns so far show a slight majority for opposition party NDC over the NPP, and are being interpreted as a popular demand for cooperation between the two dominant parties. Ghana is on the cusp of an oil boom, with drilling scheduled to begin in late 2009, and the elections have several implications for revenue transparency initiatives. Read more ...November 26, 2008
Has the Sovereign Wealth Fund "Moment" Passed?
The global financial crisis has undoubtedly taken a toll on sovereign wealth funds. Governments facing a credit shortage are under increased pressure to draw on accumulated assets, in order to shore up equity markets or to sustain domestic financial markets. In his Follow the Money blog from the Council on Foreign Relations, economist Brad Setser predicts that SWFs will fall "well short" of previous growth estimates. Read more ...November 25, 2008
TANZANIA: Government Plans to Begin EITI Process
With a growing public debate over extractive resources as the backdrop, Tanzania showed its leadership in Africa last week with the announcement that it would join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. On November 19, Minister for Energy and Minerals William Ngeleja told reporters in Dar es Salaam that the move would help facilitate good governance and supervision of the mining sector and "help to ensure that mineral resources benefit the country. ..." Read more ...November 24, 2008
PERU: Conference Examines Paradox of Plenty at Sub-National Level
Peru's Institute of Development Studies joined a recent Revenue Watch conference in Lima organized to examine how government at the state and local levels takes on the opportunities and challenges of commodity windfalls. The recent boom in oil, gas and mineral prices has created a "paradox of plenty" for Peru's sub-national governments, which continue to lack capacity to improve social services, address poverty, or promote democracy and accountability. The Centre for the Future State (CFS) and the Institute of Peruvian Studies co-hosted the November conference. Read more ... (Institute of Development Studies)November 18, 2008
AUDIO: RWI Economist Explains Links Between Transparency and Development Challenges
On November 16, Revenue Watch Institute Senior Economist Antoine Heuty spoke to Senegal's West Africa Democracy Radio about Nigeria's subnational project, the Bayelsa Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (BEITI), which was launched on November 5. Heuty also spoke about the link between the lack of transparency and corruption, violence, and failed development; the importance of civil society engagement in transparency reform; and RWI's history of transparency advocacy in the extractive sector. Read more ...November 17, 2008
UGANDA: Will Oil Revenues Spell Doom?
As Uganda prepares to become an oil-producing country, one expert is asking if the nation's new-found reserves will yield national growth or economic doom. In an article in Uganda's "New Vision," researcher Frank Tumusiime, of the Africa Institute for Energy Governance, questions whether the country is positioned to translate oil revenues into capital investments for development. Uganda seems to have the political will to make resource revenues work for the benefit of its people, as was seen in initial government preparations and official statements from the President, the Ministry of Energy, and others. However, with production slated to begin in 2009, there remain concerns about the lack of a clear and streamlined regulatory framework. Read more ...November 14, 2008
RWI CONFERENCE: Efficiency of Public Spending in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia
On November 14, Revenue Watch Institute convened an international conference in Astana, Kazakhstan focused on improving health, education and other social protections through more efficient spending and management of resource wealth. Rising prices for oil and natural gas have boosted economies in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia, but these former Soviet states cannot improve their standards of living or economic sustainability through increased spending alone. The two-day event was co-hosted by the Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan and guests included leaders, experts and officials from Azerbaijan, Norway, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S. Read more ...November 10, 2008
Excerpt: America's Oil Addiction?
From CNN, read an essay on America's oil addiction by professor Michael Watts, coauthor with photojournalist Ed Kashi of Black Gold, excerpted from the new book "What Matters," a collection of 18 photo-essays and polemical articles on the pressing issues of our age, created by New York Times bestselling author David Elliot Cohen. "The true costs of cheap oil—a vast military presence in the Middle East; environmental damage, including global climate change; the need to support corrupt "oilygarchs"—have never been paid by consumers at the fuel pump. And a half century of 'special relationships'—or, more precisely, addictive codependencies—have only produced Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Libya's Muammar al-Gaddafi, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and, in the end, September 11, Osama bin Laden's murderous response to the permanent deployment of American troops in the oil-rich Saudi holy land." Read more ...November 8, 2008
ANÁLISIS QUINCENAL: Transparency and Extractives Update from Latin America
Carlos Monge, RWI Latin America Regional Coordinator, and colleagues deliver fresh news and insight. Issue November 8 covers the failure of fuel prices to fall in some Latin American countries, the persistent conflicts between industry and the citizenry in Ecuador and Peru, and the bilateral agreements between Ecuador and Venezuela. In previous issues, read about the impact of the commodity meltdown and the recent corruption scandal in oil block concessions in Peru, and the relationship between state-owned oil companies and the hydrocarbon sector. Read more ... | EspañolNovember 5, 2008
NIGERIA: Bayelsa State Leads Fight for Responsible Government with New Transparency Effort
Leaders in the oil-rich state of Bayelsa will open state and local government budgets to unprecedented scrutiny with the launch of the Bayelsa Expenditure and Income Transparency Initiative. The BEITI, established with planning and technical advice from Revenue Watch, will bring together officials from government, civil society and the oil and gas industry to audit state income from all sources. Read more ... | FrançaisNovember 3, 2008
NIGERIA: Windfall Savings Policy Can't Replace Good Revenue Management
The governor of Nigeria's central bank has issued a warning that the nation may not be able to offset the combined effects of the economic downturn and the depletion of Nigeria's savings account for oil windfalls. Though Nigeria has policies that de-link its national budget from fluctuations in oil price, the current crisis underscores the need for strengthened expenditure management and fiscal responsibility. Read more ...October 30, 2008
RWI NEWSLETTER: Fall 2008
Find out about RWI's June International Programs Meeting, the progress of the Extractive Industries Transparency Disclosure bills, and efforts at the sub-national level in multiple countries, among other recent news. Also learn about Revenue Watch's new grant guidelines, and Publish What You Pay and partner activities in Africa, Latin America, Eurasia, Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Read the full newsletter ... | FrançaisOctober 27, 2008
New Strides for the Extractive Industries Transparency Disclosure Act
The movement for improved disclosure and anticorruption regulations gained further attention and momentum in the U.S. Congress this fall, as the Extractive Industries Transparency Disclosure Act picked up new sponsors in the House and the Senate. RWI has pushed hard with PWYP US over the past year and a half to get this bill introduced and approved in Congress.
On September 24, Revenue Watch board members, partners and authors testified in two different Senate hearings in support of the EITD bill (S. 3389), which would require oil, gas and mining companies to publish payments to foreign governments in greater detail in annual SEC filings. Country-by-country reporting would shed much-needed light on an industry that operates in some of the most corrupt and unstable regions in the world. The ability of local communities to keep their governments honest will also help stabilize the nation, yielding safer investments and a more secure supply of resources for consumers. Read more ...
October 10, 2008
OSI Stories: Opening the Books on Natural Resource Revenues
Each night for a month, messages appeared on the cell phone of a community activist in one of Indonesia’s sprawling urban areas. The messages were consistent, the threat unsubtle: “If you want to live in this city, don’t talk about budgets.” Next came “informal conversations” with the local police, then interrogations. It is dangerous work to empower people, to provide them with information about malfeasance and the tools they need to collect official documents, to show students and housewives how to discover whether government officials, some local, some national, are mismanaging and sometimes skimming massive amounts of revenue paid by foreign companies to extract oil, minerals, and other natural resources. Read more ...October 10, 2008
Study Highlights Challenges in Revenue Redistribution at the Local Level
A new study, "Extractive Industries Revenues Distribution at the Sub-National Level," presents a comparative analysis of international legislation regulating distribution of revenues from extractive industries across all levels of government. Prepared by development economics consultant Matteo Morgandi at the request of a working group of the Peruvian National Congress, it encompasses legislative practices in Bolivia, Brazil, Ghana, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Papua New Guinea. Read more ...October 9, 2008
RWI's Antoine Heuty on Transparency in Guinea
At a September meeting of Publish What You Pay Guinea, senior economist Antoine Heuty presented a workshop on contract transparency. Heuty spoke with Guinea's La Nouvelle Tribune during his visit. Read more ...October 2, 2008
AUDIO SLIDESHOW: Oil, Power, and the Niger Delta
Through stunning photographs and firsthand commentary, this multimedia presentation reveals the stark problems of poverty, corruption and environmental abuse that continue to devastate the oil-rich Niger Delta. Narrated by Nigerian transparency advocate Asume Isaac Osuoka and award-winning photojournalist Ed Kashi, "Shadows and Light" captures the contradiction of Nigeria's resource curse. Play slideshow and learn more ...October 1, 2008
The Coming Oil Boom in Ghana
The recent discovery of oil under the waters of Ghana’s Gold Coast gives Ghana a chance to use the projected new resource windfall—perhaps as much as an additional one billion dollars in government revenues per year—for development. But this will only happen if Ghana can avoid the usual traps of new oil wealth in developing countries. Revenue Watch partner Oxfam America says Ghana's record of good governance and stability make it a good candidate to approach oil exploitation with greater revenue transparency and better revenue management. Ghana has the chance to consolidate its accomplishments in fighting poverty, and continuing toward its Millennium Development Goals. It must do so without allowing oil to breed corruption, environmental damage, and social unrest. These offshore oil fields will test Ghana’s ability to use the new wealth to fund health, education, protect the environment, and fight poverty. Read more ... (Oxfam America)September 17, 2008
PWYP Calls on Norway to Join EITI Process
In a joint letter to three top Norwegian ministers, Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Norway and PWYP International urged Norway to take new steps toward becoming an EITI candidate country. The Norwegian government announced its plans to implement EITI in September 2007, and the nation has been a key supporter of EITI since its inception, yet Norway has failed to take the first steps in the process. This failure sends mixed message to both developed and emerging economies. By implementing EITI, Norway "would demonstrate to the whole world what the developed world wants to live by through high standards of transparency and accountability,” said Canadian parliamentarian John Williams. Read more ... (pdf)September 15, 2008
EITI Releases New Validation Materials
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has published revised and updated materials online on EITI Validation. By completing this critical step in the EITI process, countries show their commitment to transparency and good governance in the extractives sector and receive international recognition for their efforts. Read more ...September 9, 2008
OPINION: Legal Analyst Matthew Genasci on EITI Reporting
In a letter to "Oil & Gas Journal," RWI's legal analyst notes the benefits of disaggregated reporting by extractive companies and challenges the argument that companies should insist on aggregated reporting to minimize their risk of investigation. Read more ...September 4, 2008
FORUM: Photography as Advocacy—A Half Century of Oil and Misery in the Niger Delta
On September 23, Revenue Watch and the Open Society Institute Documentary Photography Project will present a discussion of oil in the Niger Delta and the use of photography in advocating for social change, with panelists including RWI Senior Economist Antoine Heuty and photographer Ed Kashi and professor Michael Watts, among others. Kashi and Watts are the co-authors of the newly-released Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta. Read more ...August 29, 2008
Can Ghana Move from Oil Euphoria to Transparency and Good Revenue Management?
Ghana has been a leader in Africa for high revenue reporting standards in its mining industry, but it faces new challenges and new attention after the discovery of massive offshore oil reserves. Revenue Watch Africa director Emmanuel Kuyole explains how Ghana must build on these successes in the mining sector if it hopes to reap the benefits of the coming oil boom. Read more ...August 25, 2008
World Bank Group Releases Payment Disclosures by Companies, but Reports Lack Clarity and Consistency
A new report by the Bank Information Center (BIC) highlights the uneven enforcement of extractive sector disclosure requirements from the World Bank's private sector arm, as well as instances where these requirements are not enforced at all, in contradiction of the newest International Finanical Corporation policies. Read more ...August 4, 2008
Revenue Watch Hails Senate Transparency Bill as a Vital Tool to Protect U.S. Energy Investors and Citizens in Oil-Rich Nations
The Extractive Industries Transparency Disclosure Act, introduced on August 1 by Senator Charles Schumer, includes new reporting requirements for companies that would help stabilize energy markets and end corruption in resource-rich nations. RWI director Karin Lissakers called the EITD Act "a win-win proposition for investors and for people in some of the world's poorest nations." Read more ...August 1, 2008
PWYP Applauds Senator's Support for EITD Act
The Publish What You Pay U.S. coalition praised New York's Charles Schumer for introducing the EITD Act in the Senate. Like its companion legislation in the House of Representatives, the low-cost rule change would require companies registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to publish their payments to foreign governments for oil, gas and minerals. Read more ...July 31, 2008
PWYP Speaks Out Against Harassment and Intimidation of Anti-Corruption Campaigners in Gabon
National police in Gabon attempted to arrest five people this week during the meeting of an anti-poverty group, including Publish What You Pay national coordinator Marc Ona. PWYP Gabon believes the action is politically motivated and follows the release of a statement denouncing Chief Prosecutor Bosco Alaba Fall for involvement in an alleged corruption scandal. Read more ...July 29, 2008
IRAQ: The Background to Contract Negotiations for Key Oil Fields
In late June, the Iraqi government announced a bidding process for contracts to develop six key oil fields, setting aside the controversial no-bid process previously reported. If the upcoming process is transparent and fair, it could serve as a pilot for Iraq's stalled oil laws and help to rebuild its lucrative oil sector. Read more and view an interactive map of oil fields and companies bidding ...July 23, 2008
OPINION: Iraq Needs International Support for Fair and Reliable Oil Contract Negotiations
In commentary in the Financial Times, Yahia Said calls for transparency in the negotiation of controversial Iraqi oil contracts, and help from international institutions as Iraq rebuilds its oil sector, its hobbled bureaucracy and trust between government and the citizens who stand to benefit in an improved Iraqi economy. Read more ... (Financial Times)July 1, 2008
IRAQ: Yahia Said Discusses Oil Contracts and Legal Framework on PBS's "NewsHour"
In a June 30 interview, Revenue Watch's Middle East North Africa Director explained the latest steps by Iraq to revitalize its oil sector through contracts with U.S. and foreign firms, and the continuing barriers to new hydrocarbon legislation. Read more and watch video ...June 26, 2008
Revenue Watch Tells House Committee New SEC Disclosure Rules Will Foster Security and Economic Stability
In testimony on Capitol Hill, Revenue Watch director Karin Lissakers and other experts urged lawmakers to pass the Extractive Industries Transparency Disclosure Act, to bolster energy security, fight corruption in resource-rich countries, and level the playing field for U.S. companies. Read more, watch and download testimony ...June 9, 2008
Revenue Watch and Publish What You Pay Protest Gabon's Unjustified Travel Ban on Transparency Advocate
On June 6, officials in Libreville, Gabon, detained advocate Marc Ona on the tarmac moments before his departure for an RWI meeting on government transparency. Radhika Sarin of Publish What You Pay called the incident "simply unacceptable," and RWI director Karin Lissakers said the actions "pose serious questions on Gabon's commitment to the EITI" and to the rights of civil society groups. Read more ...May 26, 2008
RWI Announces Comprehensive Guidebook to Extractive Industry Revenues and the EITI
Drilling Down provides step-by-step explanations of each phase of EITI implementation and a detailed review of extractive industries accounting for civil society readers. This milestone publication also illustrates the fundamentals of government accounting systems, extractive industry contracts, and the fiscal regimes that control the flow of funds to and from governments. Read more ...May 23, 2008
Making a Nation's Wealth Work for Its People
Revenue Watch funder the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation profiles RWI's programs, philosophy and approach in their recent newsletter, including ongoing work in Ghana and Mongolia, among other efforts. Read more ... (www.hewlett.org)May 19, 2008
PERU: EITI Group Calls for Government Engagement
The groups leading Peru's EITI project called on the energy ministry to actively support the disclosure of extractive industry payments on a company-by-company basis, saying the government "has not yet deployed the effort necessary to comply" with its EITI commitment. Read more ...May 16, 2008
RWI NEWSLETTER: Spring 2008
Find out about RWI's forthcoming guide to extractive industry revenues, our recent activities in Africa, Iraq, Southeast Asia and elsewhere, the work of the Publish What You Pay coalition and new staff and partners of the Revenue Watch Institute. Read the full newsletter ...May 15, 2008
Transparency Bill Offers a Powerful Tool to Fight Corruption, Instability
Revenue Watch heralded the new Extractive Industries Transparency Act introduced Chairman Barney Frank in the House Financial Services Committee. The bill would require foreign and domestic companies listed by the SEC to report oil, gas and mining payments on a country by country basis, offering prospects for a more stable investment climate in resource-rich countries. Read more ...April 29, 2008
New Report Says Companies Have a Long Way to Go on Transparency
A survey of leading oil and gas companies shows that the majority are far from transparent in their payments to resource-rich countries. The report, from Transparency International and Revenue Watch, evaluates levels of revenue transparency and suggests areas for improvement, including the need for regulation and for country-by-country reporting. Read more and hear audio commentary ...April 24, 2008
PERU: Network of NGOs Releases Report on Extractives Data, Sub-National Capacity
In its seventh extractive industries report, Revenue Watch partner and grantee Grupo Propuesta Ciudadana compiles and analyzes 2007 data from Peru's mining, oil and gas sectors, and policy issues including the capacity of sub-national governments to effectively use resource revenues. Read more ...April 16, 2008
Publish What You Pay Nigeria Demands Justice for Arrested Film Crew
An American film crew and a Nigeria-based Publish What You Pay member were arrested and detained this week by Nigeria's Joint Military Task Force. David Ungolor of PWYP Nigeria called the actions "heavy-handed" and demanded that the group be released or charged as required by Nigerian law. Read more ...April 12, 2008
World Bank Transparency Effort Offers Promise, but Faces Legacy of Mistrust in Resource-Rich Nations
Revenue Watch welcomed the World Bank's new "EITI++" campaign to help countries harness the current commodities boom. The plan offers support to extend EITI principles across the full "value chain," but RWI warned the Bank that it will take constructive engagement with governments and activists to overcome a legacy of mistrust. Read more ...April 10, 2008
East African Legislators Adopt Recommendations for Extractive Industries Oversight
In a unified effort to reduce conflict and corruption, lawmakers have drafted a plan to review laws and contracts, strengthen parliamentary oversight and foster East African Community cooperation on the management of oil and mineral resources. The resolution, created at a meeting sponsored by Revenue Watch and other groups, also asks EAC members to consider joining the EITI. Read more ...April 9, 2008
Iraq and the EITI: An Encouraging Step for Development
The announcement of Iraq's commitment to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative is a positive sign for open and stable development. Transparency in the management of the world's second-largest reserve of oil would help build trust among Iraq's political factions and foster a more attractive investment climate for the country's oil sector. Read more ...April 7, 2008
IRAQ: Revenue Watch Middle East Expert Warns Senators on the Need for Power-Sharing, New Oil Law
Appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Yahia Said told lawmakers that ending the deadlock over oil legislation, and a fair election process, are the keys to unlocking Iraq's development potential. "The U.S. military surge was meant to create an environment for political dialogue," said Mr. Said, "but the political process seems to be heading in the opposite direction." Read more ...March 14, 2008
IRAQ: Senators Want to Follow the Money, but Experts Cite Continuing Obstacles to Transparency
Despite reductions in Iraqi violence and related increases in oil production, Iraq's new financial cushion has not translated into significant spending on reconstruction. As two senior U.S. senators call for an investigation into Iraq's revenue management, experts from Revenue Watch and elsewhere are commenting on the barriers to transparency and economic recovery. Read more ...February 29, 2008
KAZAKHSTAN: Coalition Assesses Country's First EITI Report
"Oil Revenues–Under Public Oversight!," a group of over 60 NGOs from across Kazakhstan, welcomed the publication of the nation's first report on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative as an important preliminary step, but noted questions about the quality of the report and about critical issues that remain unaddressed. Read more ...February 28, 2008
SOUTH AFRICA: Revenue Watch Comments on Draft Royalty Bill
Revenue Watch has submitted its analysis of South Africa's proposed new mining and petroleum royalty bill, in response to a government call for public comments. The bill comes amid a momentous transfer of mineral rights to the state, but RWI is concerned that some of its provisions may not be in South Africa's long-term interests. Read more ...February 25, 2008
As Transparency Initiative Adds Countries, Global Coalition Calls for Civil Society Engagement and Reform
The Publish What You Pay coalition called on governments and companies to deliver concrete results in the push for transparency and accountability in revenues and payments from oil, gas and mining. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has approved seven new candidate countries, and all 22 EITI nations must now meet the standard for full EITI validation.Read more ...
February 07, 2008
RWI CONFERENCE: Economists and African Leaders Gather in Senegal
At a Revenue Watch gathering in Dakar, Senegal, policymakers, community advocates and national and regional leaders gathered for a day-long session on challenges, solutions and real-world examples from Africa's struggle to address the "resource curse." Panelists included renowned economist Paul Collier and experts and parliamentarians from countries working to improve transparency in budgeting, revenues and contracts.Read more and download session materials ...
January 31, 2008
France Must Re-Open Probe into Alleged Graft by African Leaders
After a French ruling closed down an investigation into corruption in several African governments, the pro-transparency group Sherpa joined Global Witness and others to condemn the decision, which comes despite the discovery tens of millions of dollars in property and dozens of bank accounts belonging to the countries' Presidents and close associates."We are considering launching a civil complaint in France to ensure this milestone case is properly pursued," said William Bourdon, President of Sherpa.
The investigation, the first of its kind in France, was a key test of President's Sarkozy's call for a "new partnership" with Africa and France's global commitments against corruption. It was closed down in November 2007 after a French court ruled that the crimes were "insufficiently characterized."
Read more ...
January 29, 2008
Promoting Transparency in the Global Fight on Corruption
At a UN anti-corruption conference in Indonesia, Revenue Watch Institute and Publish What You Pay-Indonesia called on participants from 140 states to institutionalize transparency standards. "The fight against corruption begins by revealing where money goes before it ends up in the wrong hands," said RWI director Karin Lissakers.
Read more ...
January 16, 2008
Gabon Lifts Suspension of Advocacy Groups
After a widespread outcry from the Publish What You Pay (PWYP) coalition and many others, Gabon's Minister of the Interior announced the reversal of a ban on operations by 22 non-governmental groups, including PWYP Gabon.
Read more ...
January 11, 2008
Transparency Group Condemns Gabon's Suspension Of NGOs
The Publish What You Pay (PWYP) United States coalition joined international anti-corruption groups to condemns the government of Gabon for suspending PWYP's Gabon coalition. The coalition of human rights, development and environmental organizations also called on the U.S. Government to appeal to the Gabonese authorities to lift the order.
Read more ...
January 7, 2008
Iraq: Opinion: Calling For a "Political Surge" in Iraq
On the one year anniversary of the U.S. military surge, community leaders in Iraq have begun to rebuild, but enduring changes such as an equitable oil law, or clean water, will be unreachable as long as growth depends on the factional leaders walled off in Baghdad's Green Zone. In the International Herald Tribune, RWI's Yahia Said explains the urgent need for fair elections and political power-sharing.
Read more ...
December 20, 2007
Iraq: CSIS - Measuring Stability and Security in IraqLatest report from the Center for Strategic & International Studies assessing the U.S. Defense Departments latest report on Iraq. The CSIS report cites "strong indicators that the glass has gone from one that was mostly empty to one that is at least half full," but adds that the military assessment "scarcely describes a stable or secure Iraq and it indicates that the Iraq War still presents a high risk of failure."
December 17, 2007
Sierra Leone: Extractives Coalition Calls For Dialogue After Deadly Violence at Mine
The National Advocacy Coalition on Extractives (NACE) has begun an investigation into the violent confrontation between police and protestors outside a diamond mine in the eastern town of Koidu. NACE is calling for constructive dialogue among Sierra Leone's mining industry, government and activist groups.
Read more ...
December 10, 2007
Review: IMF Guide, Illuminating Resource Revenue Transparency
Senior Economist Akram Esanov reviews the latest version of the International Monetary Fund's Guide, which has become an important reference source for civil society and government. The updated Guide covers key fiscal issues such as medium-term budgeting framework, long-term reporting, and internal oversight of revenue flows. It can also help resource abundant countries to identify the projects that will have the greatest impact on revenue transparency.
Read more ...
November 26, 2007
Publish What You Pay Report: U.S. House Committee Considers Transparency Issues
In October, the House Financial Services Committee recently held its first-ever hearing on extractive industry transparency. Witnesses included Ian Gary from Oxfam America and Father Patrick Lafon from the Catholic Church in Cameroon, both members of the Publish What You Pay Coalition. Read the PWYP report and learn more about the momentum for country-by-country reporting of U.S. natural resource revenue payments.
Download and read full report ... (pdf)
November 14, 2007
EU Parliament Supports Mandatory Reporting By Oil, Gas And Mining Companies
The European Parliament today called for a new international accounting standard requiring oil, gas and mining companies to report critical financial information, such as payments to governments, on a country-by-country basis. The decision meets a long-standing demand of Publish What You Pay (PWYP). "We applaud the European Parliament," said Radhika Sarin, International Coordinator of PWYP. "This will ensure citizens in producing countries have access to information they need to hold their governments to account."
Read more ...
November 12, 2007
Listen to the author discussion and Q&A at soros.org.
October 24, 2007
House Panel to Examine Resource Revenue Transparency in Mining and Oil Industries
Washington, DC – House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank will hold a hearing on Thursday, October 25 at 10:00 am in 2218 Rayburn House Office Building to examine the issue of and focus public attention on the importance of increased resource revenue transparency in the extractive industries.Read more ...
September 17, 2007
Guidelines for the Revision of Mining Contracts in the DRC.
- ISSUE 1: Guidelines for the Revision of Mining Contracts in the DRC (Francais)
- ISSUE 2: Diamonds in Zimbabwe - A Situational Analysis
- ISSUE 3: Malawi and Its Minerals - Are Malawians Benefitting?
- ISSUE 4: Copper Boom in Zambia - Boom for Whom?
- ISSUE 5: The Evolution of Diamond Mining in Lesotho
August, 2007
Iraq: IMF Review (August, 2007)Report on Iraq's economic situation, the effects of deteriorations in security, and progress on strengthening macroeconomic and structural reforms, based on IMF meetings with Iraqi officials and analysis by the IMF staff and Executive Board.Download and read full report ... (pdf)
July 18, 2007
Iraq: Revenue Watch Analysis of Iraq Hydrocarbons Legal Framework An analysis of Iraq's Federal Oil and Gas Law, Federal Financial Resources Law, relevant constitutional articles and proposed amendments by the Constitutional Review Committee and the Kurdistan Region Oil and Gas Law and Model ContractRead more ...
February 15, 2007
Iraq: Oil and Gas LawDraft of Iraqi Hydrocarbon Law submitted to Parliament on February 15th, 2007, from Kurdistan Regional Government website.
Expert Commentary: (pdf)
- Tariq Shafiq, Founding Executive of INOC (published by Middle East Economic Survey - MEES)
- Fadhil Al-Chalabi, Executive Director of the Center for Global Energy Studies, former Deputy Minister of Oil and General Secretary of OPEC (presented at conference in Amman on February 17)
- Symposium of Iraqi oil experts (with list of signatories)
- Malik Dohan Al-Hasan, former Minister of Justice
- Nabil Marsoomi, Professor of Economics, University of Basra
Iraqi Oil Policy: Constitutional Issues Regarding Federal and Regional Authority
Analysis by Joseph C. Bell, Hogan & Hartson LLP, and Professor Cheryl Saunders, University of Melbourne Australia. This memo addresses issues of constitutional relating to the division of authority between the federal government and the regions and governorates.
Related Article: Oil and Gas Rights of Regions and Governates
Commentary: Proposed Petroleum Act for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
The Revenue Watch Institute notes with approval the decision of the Kurdistan authorities to publish the preliminary draft for public comment. Our comments are limited to the provisions regarding corruption, transparency, and public access to information.
Related Article: KRG Natural Resources Minster Responds to Comments on Draft Kurdistan Petroleum Act
January 23, 2007
Keeping Up With Nigeria
Though the U.S. government receives industry payments for resources extracted from public lands, it does not require that companies disclose these payments to the public, contrary to an emerging international standard of transparency and accountability. In a column in The New York Times, RWI Director Karin Lissakers describes the low standards in many areas of U.S. revenue management for the oil and mining sectors, and the unfavorable comparisons with states like Nigeria, where stronger disclosure practices are observed.
Read more ...
January 14, 2007
Iraq: Development Fund for Iraq: Summary of 2007 Audit Ernst & Young's summary of findings for the period ending December 31, 2006, from the International Advisory and Monitoring Board for Iraq (IAMB).MEDIA FEED
U.S. Said to Allow Drilling Without Needed Permits - The New York Times
Australia Gas Deal Renews Tension - Financial Times
Charged With Fraud, Nigeria's Ruling Party Leader Resigns - Reuters
Western Senators Propose Ban on Pacific Drilling - The New York Times
To Limit Corruption around Mining in Africa, Follow the Money - The Globe and Mail
Court Backs Oil Project - The New York Times
Transparency Increases, But There Is Still a Long Way to Go - The Phnom Penh Post
IMF Develops Project to Help Africa Deal with Illicit Trade - African Manager
Three-day Conference on Africa's Natural Resources Starts in Tanzania - Standard Times Press
After Oil Rig Blast, BP Refused to Share Underwater Spill Footage - ABC News
Finger-Pointing, but Few Answers at Hearings on Drilling - The New York Times
Complaints Over U.N. Prize Sponsored by Equatorial Guinea's Obiang - Reuters
Guide: Community-Company Grievance Resolution for Australian Mining Industry - Oxfam Australia (pdf)
Cote D'Ivoire: President for Life, and Then Some - The New York Times
In Midst of Massive Spill, Oil Industry Fighting Transparency and Accountability - Oxfam America
Leaked Oil Contracts in DRC Threaten Resource Wars and $10 Billion Rip-Off by British Company - Carbon Web
NEWS & INFORMATION ARCHIVES
PUBLICATIONS
Contracts Confidential: Ending Secret Deals in the Extractive Industries
Contract transparency is sorely needed to improve the management of natural resource wealth. In a new report from RWI, authors Peter Rosenblum and Susan Maples delve into government and private sector objections to contract disclosure and make conclusions about what information may legitimately and reasonably be kept confidential, and how civil society institutions can better confront the challenge of secret deals.
Learn more about the report ...
NEW TRANSLATION: Revenue Redistribution at the Local Level
Many resource-rich countries are attempting to compensate their producing regions through shares of resource revenues to be spent at the local level. In "Extractive Industries Revenues Distribution at the Sub-National Level," development economics consultant Matteo Morgandi presents a comparative analysis of international legislation for distribution of extractive revenues from across all levels of government. Prepared at the request of the Peruvian National Congress, the report studies the legislative practices of seven resource-rich countries to identify potential and address challenges. Please note that this report is now also available in Vietnamese.
Learn more ...