Oversight actors can detect and prevent corruption in the oil, gas and mining sectors if they ask the right questions. Corruption schemes can be complex and opaque, yet clear patterns and similar signs of problematic behavior do exist across resource-rich countries.
The Natural Resource Charter Benchmarking Framework is a tool for benchmarking a country’s management of oil, gas and minerals against global best practices. Created in response to government and civil society demand for a practical way to measure resource governance, it is the product of five years of expert input and testing in more than 15 country projects.
Four years after EITI began encouraging contract disclosure through its standard, this report assesses the extent to which governments of resource-rich countries have taken up the recommendation. The report finds that disclosing the contracts and licenses that detail terms of resource exploitation has become the norm among EITI implementing countries.
As in many countries, the Indonesian government wishes to establish greater sovereignty over the country’s mineral resources. However, the government has so far struggled to realize a policy that works for both the country and investors. The key part of government efforts to exert greater sovereignty over the mining sector is the “divestment rule.”
The Resource Governance Index (RGI) measures the quality of governance in the oil, gas and mining sectors of 58 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.
The Charter is a set of principles for governments and societies on how to best harness the opportunities created by extractive resources for development. It is not a recipe or blueprint for the policies and institutions countries must build, but instead provides the ingredients successful countries have used.
