Best Practice & Ethics
Developing countries deserve share of oil wealth
The US government and international oil companies must take
a stand against corruption by requiring all energy companies to disclose the
revenue payments they make to governments,
Global Witness has urged.
A
report from the campaigning group argues that despite global oil prices reaching record levels the populations of many oil-rich countries are not receiving the
benefits. For instance, over half of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea’s citizens live
on less than $1 a day. The chief cause of this, the campaigning body believes, is
government corruption allowed by a lack of transparency in the oil, gas and
mining sectors.
Global Witness argues that energy revenue transparency
depends on three principles: “publish what you pay” – oil, gas and mining
companies revealing payments they make to governments; “publish what you earn” –
governments revealing the revenues they receive; and “publish what you spend” –
governments publishing their budget expenditures.
Alongside this, the US is urged to work with countries on
revenue transparency at a senior diplomatic level, including working with new
oil-producing countries such as Madagascar and Cambodia to ensure revenue and
budget transparency is institutionally enshrined.
Sarah Lezhnev, Global Witness policy adviser, said “By
enacting a bill on energy revenue transparency, the US would go a long way
toward combating corruption and improving governance in oil-producing
countries”.
Link
Global Witness
Oil Revenue Transparency- A Strategic Component of U.S. Energy Security
Policy
April, 2007 |
