Eighty percent of the nations responsible for most of the world’s oil, gas and minerals production lack adequate transparency and accountability standards, according to a new index from Revenue Watch Institute.
Out of all 58 countries covered by the Resource Governance Index, 47 countries failed to meet satisfactory levels, the group said. See the downloads page for translations and more detail. The 58 nations studied produce 85 percent of the world’s petroleum, 90 percent of diamonds and 80 percent of copper.
“The RGI scores and ranks the countries, relying on a detailed questionnaire completed by researchers with expertise in the extractive industries. The Index assesses the quality of four key governance components: Institutional and Legal Setting; Reporting Practices; Safeguards and Quality Controls; and Enabling Environment. It also includes information on three special mechanisms used commonly to govern oil, gas and minerals—state-owned companies, natural resource funds and subnational revenue transfers.”
Poor Scores
More than half the sample, 32 countries, “do not meet even basic standards of resource governance, performing weakly or simply failing,” according to the report. The worst-ranked countries were Cambodia, Iran, Qatar, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Turkmenistan and Myanmar.
Only 10 countries out of the 58 surveyed in the Index publish all or most of the contracts that govern exploration and production. Only 13 Index countries disclose timely, comprehensive information on natural resource operations and revenues.
Only 12 of the 45 state-owned companies and seven of the 23 natural resource funds had satisfactory standards of governance and transparency.
Over two-thirds of the 58 countries studied received low scores (below the median worldwide) on national measures of corruption, rule of law and press freedom.
Recommendations Made
Revenue Watch Institute called on governments to:
- Disclose contracts signed with extractive companies.
- Ensure that regulatory agencies publish timely, comprehensive reports on their operations, including detailed revenue and project information.
- Extend transparency and accountability standards to state-owned companies and natural resource funds.
- Make a concerted effort to control corruption, improve the rule of law and guarantee respect for civil and political rights, including a free press.
- Accelerate the adoption of international reporting standards for governments and companies.
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