Citizen groups called on oil companies attending an international transparency meeting in Oslo to drop a lawsuit against US transparency laws requiring disclosure of payments to governments. The lawsuit by the American Petroleum Institute aims to overturn a 2010 law passed to increase transparency in oil and mining deals. While some companies like Statoil have distanced themselves from the lawsuit, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell continue supporting efforts to eliminate transparency measures. Representatives from governments, companies, and citizens groups will discuss expanding transparency standards at the Oslo meeting to create a new standard in May 2013.

1. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Citizens’ groups call for oil companies to drop anti-transparency lawsuit
ahead of transparency meeting in Oslo
LONDON, February 25, 2013 -- Ahead of Tuesday’s international board meeting of the Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in Oslo, civil society organisations urge oil companies to drop a
lawsuit that aims to overturn US transparency laws.
The suit, brought by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and others against the U.S. Securities
Exchange Commission (SEC), aims to strike down a landmark U.S. sunshine law that requires oil, gas
and mining companies to publish payments they make to governments to end secrecy in oil deals. The
law, passed in 2010 as Section 1504 of the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection
Act, was crafted to complement and expand the coverage of the EITI. SEC adopted implementing
regulations in August 2012.
Oil industry board members of the EITI, such as Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and Royal Dutch Shell, are
backing a lawsuit aimed at abolishing the transparency measures required by the U.S. law while being
simultaneously engaged in privileged negotiations on ways to advance the EITI transparency
measures.
“The API is threatening to strike down a vital mechanism for improving transparency, reducing
corruption, mobilising revenue for development and transforming the lives of millions of people living
in poverty. Support for this lawsuit threatens EITI progress, and is wholly incompatible with corporate
commitments made through the EITI,” said Marinke van Riet, International Director of Publish What
You Pay. “Publish What You Pay continues to call for all oil, gas and mining companies that are
members of the API to disassociate from the suit.”
Earlier this month, one EITI board member, the Norwegian state-owned oil company Statoil, publicly
disassociated themselves from the lawsuit ahead of the Norway-hosted meeting. Unlike Statoil,
Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell continue to support the lawsuit. BP declined to comment
on its position when questioned by the Financial Times.
The lawsuit also appears to conflict with the interests of investors. Investors with more than $1.2
trillion in assets under management confirmed their strong support for Section 1504 in formal
comments submitted to the U.S. SEC. This includes the largest public pension fund in the United
States, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), as well as TIAA-CREF and Calvert
Investment Management, Inc.
Representatives from citizen’s groups, extractive companies and implementing countries meet in Oslo
on 26th and 27th February to discuss proposed expansions to the EITI to create a new transparency
standard to be launched in May 2013. Civil society organisations are calling for a number of critical
measures to improve EITI effectiveness in generating extractive sector accountability and good
governance.
Under discussion are issues that aim to bring the EITI into line with international best practice,
including disclosure of the contracts between companies and governments, project level information
as required by the US law and similar European rules that are expected to be adopted shortly, and
disclosure of the ultimate ‘beneficial’ owners of oil and mining licenses.
“We hope for a productive meeting that results in a strong new global standard for transparency in
natural resource deals,” said Ms Van Riet. “With governments, citizens and progressive companies all
calling for this, backwards steps like the API lawsuit should not be allowed to undermine meaningful
progress.”

2. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information please contact:
Joseph Williams
jwilliams@publishwhatyoupay.org
+44 (0) 77 7575 1170
For information on the lawsuit, please contact:
Isabel Munilla
imunilla@pwypusa.org
+1 202 496 1179, +1 202 680 4606
www.publishwhatyoupay.org