Ecuador: Improving Transparency

Revenue Watch has been working with government leaders and civil society groups in Ecuador, as well as international groups from Germany and Norway, to increase public access to extractive industry information, and create a climate of improved transparency in Ecuador.

RWI completed a survey of publicly available petroleum sector information, based on in-person consultations in 2006 with experts in Ecuador. Our 2006 visit was conducted at the invitation of the Minister of Energy and Mines, who was seeking to improve public access to extractive industry data.

The main finding of the RWI survey was that Ecuador's petroleum sector has done reasonably well disclosing information (such as petroleum sharing contracts) but there continues to be a widespread perception that Ecuador's government lacks transparency.

RWI has proposed to create a transparency web site based at the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), with the help of the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ), but the plans have remained preliminary due to recent political transitions and personnel changes in the Ecuadorian cabinet. The goal of this initiative is to make public all official statistics and relevant indicators on the petroleum sector.

In 2006, RWI also participated in a seminar on corporate social responsibility organized by CARE Ecuador, and seminar on petroleum sector management, presented by the government of Norway.