Parliamentarians have a crucial role to play in reviewing legislation on oil, gas and minerals, and in overseeing the government’s management of these extractive sectors. For instance, in Ghana members of parliament are actively overseeing the projections and allocations of oil revenues by scrutinizing compliance with the Petroleum Revenue Management Act. The parliament of Mongolia is currently reviewing the Future Heritage Fund bill – designed to set up a natural resource fund – a process through which parliamentarians can help shape this saving mechanism for the benefit of future generations.

In support of this unique mandate, NRGI has developed tailor-made trainings, tools and publications for members of parliament and legislative staff members since 2008. In this body of work, NRGI focuses on few select issues of particular relevance to parliaments, including revenue management (budget powers), contracts (in cases of mandatory parliamentary ratification), fiscal regimes (the right to initiate and amend legislation) and state-owned companies (power of scrutiny, accountability).

The five parliamentary briefings available on our site reflect NRGI’s approach to parliamentary capacity building on extractives. These succinct publications come in an accessible format, taking into account the hectic schedules of members of parliament. Each briefing outlines key concepts, as well as parliamentary questions and strategies for the improvement of law-making and oversight of the oil, gas and mining sectors. These publications are part of NRGI’s parliamentary strengthening toolkit, including publications, videos, blog posts and information on NRGI’s parliamentary work.

Femke Brouwer is NRGI’s parliamentary capacity development officer.