Exxon detests public scrutiny – Int’l Report

Jun 21, 2018 ExxonMobil, News

While USA oil giant says it is open to scrutiny of its contracts, a comprehensive international report states otherwise. The report which speaks to the importance, as well as the benefits of contract disclosure, was produced this year by an entity called OXFAM International.
The entity is a confederation of 20 independent charitable organizations which seek to fight some of the factors that lead to poverty, one of them being the poor governance of extractive wealth.
According to the report which assessed 40 oil companies, only two entities by their actions, are opposed to contract secrecy and public scrutiny. They are Chevron and ExxonMobil.

OXFAM’s Policy Advisor, Ian Gary

The international report says, “Notably, ExxonMobil has opposed the concept of public oversight of natural resource contracts and the movement for open contracting. In a 2016 letter to US regulators, they stated that ‘[W]e understand some non-governmental organizations hold as an ultimate policy objective the concept of so-called ‘contract transparency’ or ‘open contracting,’ under which oil and gas contracts would be negotiated in a kind of public-utility framework whereby groups other than the parties themselves would have seats at the table and pass judgment on contract terms. Needless to say, such third party intervention in commercial business negotiations would make it more difficult to achieve equitable agreements that appropriately balance risk vs. reward and to maintain those agreements going forward, resulting in serious harm to investors in oil and gas companies…”
In addition to this, OXFAM International was careful to point out, that there are some cases where Exxon contracts have been made public. In this regard, it cited the case of Guyana.
OXFAM International also highlighted that ExxonMobil declined to be interviewed for its report. Be that as it may, OXFAM concluded in its survey that like Chevron, ExxonMobil supports only limited forms of revenue transparency that explicitly exclude contract transparency.
Over the years, OXFAM has advocated for contract disclosure with national governments at the country level, with extractives companies and norm-setting bodies. It also campaigns for contract transparency alongside its partners in the Publish What You Pay coalition at global and national levels.
One of the leading individuals in this institution is Ian Gary. He directs Oxfam America’s policy, advocacy and program work which is focused on promoting transparent and accountable financial flows – for example from taxes, foreign aid or oil and mining revenues – to fight poverty and reduce inequality.
Previously he was Senior Policy Manager – Extractive Industries, at Oxfam America. He has authored Oxfam’s report, Ghana’s Big Test: Oil’s Challenge to Democratic Development (2009) and has co-authored many other reports and papers on the oil and gas sector in the developing world. He has been a leader in the fight to bring more transparency to oil and mining corporate payments to host governments and has been instrumental in the passage and implementation of US legislation requiring payment disclosure.