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State-run energy giants Rosneft and Gazprom rank higher than privately held LUKoil in terms of revenue transparency, according to a survey by Transparency International released Monday.
The anti-corruption group surveyed 42 companies for the report, which it said aimed to combat the "resource curse" -- in which countries rich in natural resources can fall prey to corruption and uneven development if revenues are managed badly.
"The key finding of the 2008 Report on Revenue Transparency of Oil and Gas Companies is that most companies evaluated do not sufficiently report on their payments to governments where they operate," the report said.
The survey gave LUKoil a low overall ranking in revenue transparency, which was judged by how well firms reported payments to host governments and operations transactions, as well as whether they ran anti-corruption programs. U.S. giant ExxonMobil, Malaysia's Petronas and China's CNPC also received low rankings.
Gazprom and Rosneft, both closely tied to the state with boards chaired by members of government, fared better in the ranking, with the survey deeming them in the "middle" in terms of revenue transparency. Britain's BP, U.S. oil major Chevron, France's Total and Italy's Eni also received middle rankings.
Oil and gas firms, both private and state-run, received rankings of high, middle or low in the report. The "high" ranking was reserved for firms like Petro Canada, Shell, Norway's StatoilHydro and Brazil's Petrobras. "Transparent resource governance is a vital ingredient to transform this resource curse into a blessing," Transparency International said in the report, noting that the energy industry as a whole generated $866 billion of revenue in 2006, accounting for 1.6 percent of gross world product.
Russia's stabilization fund, created to manage the country's quickly growing oil wealth, now stands at $144 billion. It is overseen by Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin, who was appointed to the task after the arrest last year of Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak.
Rosneft Outranks LUKoil
29 April 2008
By Miriam Elder
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