transparency agreements

We have been actively involved in helping to establish transparency agreements to disclose government revenues in the countries in which we have significant investments:

Chad (transparency agreement since 1999)
Since its inception, our project has been governed by conventions and contracts that promote transparency. Payments to the Chadian government have been posted on the Esso Chad and World Bank Web sites since first oil in 2003. Before EITI, our affiliate in Chad helped facilitate implementation of a Revenue Management Plan (RMP)—initially developed by the World Bank and the government of Chad in 1999 and revised in 2006—which includes monitoring by representatives of civil society. The revised RMP continues to devote substantial resources to the top-priority poverty reduction sectors. Through year-end 2007, Chad’s oil revenues have reached $2.5 billion. Our participation in 2007 in a government-initiated process to further discuss EITI will promote consistency with project agreements already in place. In early 2008, we sponsored and attended an anti-corruption workshop organized in Chad by TRACE International, a nonprofit membership organization that specializes in anti-corruption due diligence reviews and compliance training for members.

Azerbaijan (transparency agreement since 2004)
The government of Azerbaijan has published reports on its oil and gas revenues every year since 2003. ExxonMobil played a leadership role by helping the State Oil Fund develop the reporting templates, guidelines, and the memorandum of understanding signed by stakeholders.

The Joint Development Zone of Nigeria/São Tomé and Príncipe (transparency agreement since 2004)
Payments to the Joint Development Authority, aggregated for all companies for the award of Block 1, were made public by the government in 2004 under a transparency clause. The transparency clause was jointly approved by companies and the Joint Development Authority.

Kazakhstan (transparency agreement since 2005)
ExxonMobil participates in the National Stakeholders Council, which published a report on 2005 oil and gas revenues in February, 2008. A report covering 2006 revenues is expected later in 2008. We drafted the terms of reference for the National Stakeholders Council to oversee implementation of EITI. We played a leading role in preparing the memorandum of understanding signed by the government, parliament, companies, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to begin implementing EITI in Kazakhstan. We made a presentation on behalf of the industry at Kazakhstan’s first EITI national conference in February, 2008.

Nigeria (transparency agreement since 2006)
Results of the audit of oil and gas activities from 1999 to 2004 have been posted on the Nigeria EITI Web site. Discrepancies between reported company payments and government revenues were reconciled. ExxonMobil provided advice and support for the implementation of Nigeria’s version of EITI, which includes a three-part audit of financials, management processes, and physical volumes.