Companies Shaping the EITI Should Lead by Example

These mining, oil and gas and commodity trading companies commit to advancing transparency and good governance by promoting EITI implementation overall and the Expectations for EITI supporting companies that the EITI Board adopted in 2022 in particular. They also commit to contributing financially to the governance and implementation of the EITI. 

The 2026 assessment of 55 EITI supporting companies shows progress from the 2023 assessment while highlighting ongoing gaps in declarations of support and disclosure. These gaps include disclosing taxes and payments in countries that do not implement the EITI, commodity trading transparency, beneficial ownership, due diligence and anticorruption policies and contract transparency. For EITI stakeholders, the challenge is to turn these findings into stronger corporate accountability.

For EITI supporting companies, we, as civil society board members, expect to see even stronger performance in meeting the company expectations. This applies above all to the companies that sit on the EITI Board and help shape its rules. A bright future for the EITI requires more ambitious company leadership. 

What are the company expectations?

The Expectations for EITI supporting companies are a non-mandatory framework adopted by the EITI Board, separate from the EITI Standard. They set out nine core expectations that oil, gas and mining supporting companies should meet to demonstrate how they contribute to good governance, reduce corruption and ensure communities benefit in the energy transition.

These cover:

• Exp 1. support for the EITI;

• Exp 2. disclosure in accordance with the Standard;

• Exp 3. disclosure of taxes and payments in countries that do not implement the EITI;

• Exp 4. transparency in commodity trading;

• Exp 5. disclosure of audited financial statements;

• Exp 6. beneficial ownership transparency;

• Exp 7. rigorous due diligence processes and anticorruption policies;

• Exp 8. contract transparency;

• Exp 9. gender diversity.

Together, these expectations aim to strengthen transparency and accountability in company operations and natural resource governance.

Why they matter

EITI supporting companies include some of the world's largest and most influential oil, gas, mining and commodity trading companies. The expectations provide a public benchmark for assessing whether their practices reflect their commitments. Company and investor representatives on the EITI Board also help shape the Standard and oversee its implementation, giving them a particular responsibility to lead by example.

As civil society board members, we see firsthand why these expectations matter: the EITI’s credibility depends on companies putting their commitments into practice.

What the data tells us

Just 21 of the 55 supporting companies fully met all applicable expectations in the 2026 assessment. While the results show progress in several areas, they also demonstrate how much room there is for stronger company leadership. 

You can see the results by company here.

First, the good news: 98 percent of companies fully met the gender diversity expectation, up from 87 percent in 2023. And 91 percent fully met Expectation 2 on disclosures in implementing countries. 

Given that more than half of the extractive corruption cases NRGI reviewed involved hidden ownership, we expect EITI supporting companies to promote beneficial ownership transparency. The data tells a mixed story, with only 56 percent of supporting companies fully meeting this important expectation. While the share of companies publicly supporting beneficial ownership transparency has doubled since 2023, it still stands at just 58 percent. This means more than 40 percent of supporting companies are yet to make a public commitment to beneficial ownership disclosure in line with the EITI Standard.

Meanwhile, only 69 percent fully met the expectation on due diligence and anti-corruption policies. Publishing these policies is just the first step; companies also need to explain how ownership information shapes their checks on partners, contractors and suppliers. This links clearly back to the commitments around beneficial ownership data. Done well, these checks reduce the risk of corruption and illicit financial flows that plague giant oil projects, critical minerals mines and artisanal and small-scale gold mining.

What about companies on the board?

EITI members renewed the board at the Members’ Meeting in Brussels this month. Leading the way, several companies nominated to continue to serve on the EITI Board, including BHP, Rio Tinto, Newmont and Kosmos Energy, meet all the relevant expectations. We commend their sustained leadership on these issues.

Other nominees, including longtime board member ExxonMobil, still do not meet all the company expectations. For ExxonMobil, this includes not meeting Expectation 4 on commodity trading and not fully meeting Expectation 8 on contract transparency. These gaps remain despite significant pressure on ExxonMobil at the 2023 Global Conference to improve its performance and repeated requests from civil society to close these shortcomings. 

Overall, we also note that mining companies on the board are meeting the expectations better than oil and gas companies. Eni, Shell and bp do not meet all of them: Shell and bp only partially meet the commodity trading expectation and Eni only partially meets the beneficial ownership expectation.

Momentum is building

Recent developments within the EITI offer an opportunity to strengthen accountability. The EITI Board’s June 2026 statement reaffirmed the importance of civic space, while changes to the EITI Articles of Association—essentially the constitution of the EITI—reinforce the importance of meaningful multi-stakeholder participation. These are welcome steps, even if more remains to be done. 

Although these steps do not go far enough, they show what board members from different constituencies can achieve by working together.

Supporting companies can help put these commitments into practice through meaningful dialogue, support for independent civil society participation and protection of civic space, including at the national and subnational levels.

As governments and communities in resource-rich countries face compounding crises of fuel shortages, inflation, threats to civic space, great-power competition and pressure to fast-track projects, EITI supporting companies have an important leadership role and responsibility.

By adhering to EITI reporting standards and multi-stakeholder collaboration, companies can help create a level playing field, reduce the risk of corruption, improve access to finance, build trust with stakeholders and stay aligned with their expectations.

We welcome the progress companies have made in meeting the expectations and urge every EITI supporting company to keep closing its commitment and disclosure gaps. We also want to see the supporting company expectations evolve, when the new board reviews them, to incorporate more ambitious leading practices. For example, protecting civic space and whistleblowers, disclosing lobbying activities, not engaging in political financing or at least making donations transparent. Those shaping the EITI should lead the way toward better resource governance.

More information:

• Assessment overview: EITI assessment shows continued progress by supporting companies on transparency expectations | EITI

• Results by company; Assessment of EITI supporting companies | EITI

• Excel sheet of results: https://eiti.org/sites/default/files/2026%20EITI%20company%20assessment%20results.xlsx