Skip to main content
Support
Event

U.S. Energy Security and Oil Revenue Transparency

The Africa Program, Global Witness, and the offices of Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) co-host a comprehensive program to explore the issue of oil revenue transparency and how it relates to U.S. energy security.

Date & Time

Wednesday
Mar. 21, 2007
2:30pm – 6:00pm ET

Overview

On March 21, 2007, Global Witness and the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars hosted an event entitled, "U.S. Energy Security and Oil Revenue Transparency" to launch a Global Witness report of the same name. The timing of the event was opportune, as the importance of energy security has emerged as a central element of the U.S. foreign policy debate. The U.S. is forecasted to increase oil imports to 68% of its total supply over the next 25 years. Yet three-fifths of the U.S.' top ten oil importing countries rank at the bottom two-thirds of the world's most corrupt countries.

A diverse set of panelists addressed the challenges and opportunities presented by this interdependency. The first panel featured speakers from the non-profit, private and financial sectors discussing the links between U.S. energy security and oil revenue transparency. The second panel of non-profit and government experts expounded upon these linkages to discuss policy options for oil revenue transparency. Taken together, they presented a clear case of how the U.S. is impacted by its dependence on unstable, corrupt oil-producing countries and why policymakers should pursue mechanisms for greater transparency and push for greater accountability from oil-producing states and companies, as outlined below.

Panel I: Revenue Transparency and its Link to Energy Security

• The increased and growing dependency on oil supplies from fragile, unstable states is jeopardizing supply security and good governance is critical to stability in supplier states and transparency is a cornerstone of good governance.
• Oil revenue transparency will not only improve the standard of living in producing countries, but also spill over to benefit consuming countries. The U.S. government should require U.S. companies to publish what they pay to individual governments and actively protect civil society.
• The best and only cure for the "resource curse" is the empowerment of citizens to demand accountability from their authorities over the management of their resources once information has trickled down to their communities.
• The oil industry recognizes their role in resource revenue transparency because destabilization is costly not only in financial terms, but also in terms of lives, safety and security. From an industry perspective it is important to present broader definitions of both energy security and transparency that take into account multiple sources, impacts, and players.

Panel II: Policy Options on Oil Revenue Transparency

• The Administration should widen EITI by engaging other governments; deepen EITI by ensuring accountability from governments and countries alike; draw clear lines as to the credibility of governments' commitments; reinforce diplomatic efforts with bilateral assistance; influence the World Bank to ensure that mandatory disclosure requirements are enforced and implemented.
• Civil society participation must be recognized as the vital link in ensuring that EITI is successful and effective. Therefore the U.S. must incorporate it as part of its broader democracy and human rights agenda.
• It is critical to ensure that EITI is not just an empty initiative by supporting key implementing countries to become fully compliant and use diplomatic pressure to encourage other countries to join, particularly China, India and Russia.
• There must be a greater emphasis on creating space for civil society to hold their governments accountable as well as on developing a mechanism for mandatory disclosure for both oil companies and banks.

Drafted by Jayne Thomisee, Global Witness.

Tagged


Hosted By

Africa Program

The Africa Program works to address the most critical issues facing Africa and US-Africa relations, build mutually beneficial US-Africa relations, and enhance knowledge and understanding about Africa in the United States. The Program achieves its mission through in-depth research and analyses, public discussion, working groups, and briefings that bring together policymakers, practitioners, and subject matter experts to analyze and offer practical options for tackling key challenges in Africa and in US-Africa relations.    Read more

Environmental Change and Security Program

The Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) explores the connections between environmental change, health, and population dynamics and their links to conflict, human insecurity, and foreign policy.  Read more

Thank you for your interest in this event. Please send any feedback or questions to our Events staff.