• combating conflict diamonds
• natural resources in conflict
• ending impunity
• forests
• corruption in oil, gas and mining
• banks and corruption
• independent forest monitoring
• climate change and energy security

Corruption in Oil, Gas and Mining

View latest releases on corruption in oil, gas and mining 

Many countries that are rich in oil, gas and other minerals are nonetheless mired in poverty and poor government because the public revenues earned from selling these resources have been squandered through corruption and lack of government accountability to citizens.

Citizens of resource-rich countries cannot hold their governments to account, and ensure that mineral resources are used in a fair and sustainable way, unless they have full information about the management of these resources.

Through field investigations and high-level advocacy, we work to increase transparency in the flow of revenues from oil, gas and mining companies to governments, as well as more transparency in the award of mineral concessions, the trading of resources and the role of banks and other middlemen in resource-related corruption.

History of the Campaign 

In 2004, Global Witness published Time For Transparency - a report that uncovered mismanagement of the resource revenues of Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Congo Brazzaville & Nauru.

In 2005, Global Witness published Paying For Protection - a report that documented how the company Freeport McMoRan was seemingly paying money directly to the officers of the notoriously corrupt Indonesian security services for the protection of its mines.

In 2006, Global Witness published It's a Gas - a report that examined the gas trade between Ukraine, Russia and Turkmenistan, the latter a police state whose then autocratic President, Saparmurat Niyazov, financed his ubiquitous personality cult (replete with golden statues of himself, see right) through revenues coming from the sale of his country's natural gas. 

In 2008, Global Witness fought off a legal challenge by the son of the President of the Republic of Congo to remove various documents from our website. These showed that in his position as a public official, he appeared to have used state oil revenues to fund his lavish personal lifestyle. The documents included credit card bills which showed he spent $250,000 in two years on one card alone, mainly in the designer stores of Paris, Monaco and Dubai.

In January 2009, Global Witness continued to highlight the opacity of the Russia-Ukraine gas trade and the role of the intermediary company RosUkrEnergo as a key factor in the dispute between the two countries by writing an open letter to Gazprom. This second cut-off in three years also prompted Global Witness to write a letter to the President of the European Commission about the urgent need to address the problems of opacity and corruption which threaten the EU's energy security. The letter was prescient: in May 2009, Hungary's largest independent gas supplier, Emfesz, was taken over by an apparent shell company in Switzerland whose owners are currently unknown. Global Witness' briefing on the matter (More Funny Business in Europe's Gas Trade) highlighted how the EU needs to address the issue of secrecy not just in its external relations but also on its internal markets. This was followed up in October 2009 with the launch of All That Gas, an investigation which outlined why the EU was wrong to develop a close relationship with a dictatorship like Turkmenistan in the pursuit of a steady gas supply. The report also featured cartoons by cult satirist David Rees. 

In February 2009, after years of working on Cambodia's forestry sector, Global Witness published Country For Sale, detailing how rights to exploit oil and mineral resources have been allocated behind closed doors by a small number of powerbrokers surrounding the prime minister and other senior officials. 

Publish What You Pay

Global Witness conceived and co-launched the Publish What You Pay (PWYP) campaign, a civil society coalition with more than 300 member groups around the world, which works to promote greater transparency in the oil, gas and mining industries. We are also a leading participant in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global process launched in 2003 which brings together governments, companies and civil society groups to work for greater public disclosure and independent oversight of oil, gas and mining revenues. For our view on the challenges and opportunites facing the EITI, read our press-release.

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