EITI in the News

On Monday 29 April Transparency International launched its report Promoting Revenue Transparency – 2008 Report on Revenue Transparency of Oil and Gas Companies.

PRESS RELEASE

WASHINGTON DC AND OSLO, 13 APRIL 2008. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the global coalition for transparency in the extractive industries, supports the World Bank’s effort to extend transparency in this sector beyond revenues through its new extractive industries initiative.

In an op-ed piece in Financial Times 10 April, Paul Collier and Michael Spence write:

Any international standards for resource extraction must be voluntary. Fortunately, in this area voluntary standards have a good record. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, launched in 2002 as a standard for revenue reporting, has a wide take-up. Standards provide rallying points for reformers and a benchmark for performance and promote competition between governments.

The Second Ministerial Conference of Energy Ministers of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (AFROLAC) took place in Cancun, Mexico on the 3 and 4 April 2008. The EITI Chairman Peter Eigen addressed the conference, and talked about the importance of transparency in the extractive industries. The Ministerial Declaration included a commitment to support transparency initiatives in the energy sector.

The Government of Iraq has formally committed to implement the EITI making it the single largest country in terms of proven oil reserves (11% of world’s resources) to do so.

A new fact sheet in French is now available about the activities of EITI in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It can be found below.

Questions about the implementation of the EITI in DRC can be directed to Tim Bittiger at the EITI International Secretariat.