This paper reviews the existing transparency and accountability rules to understand the extent to which these have been implemented. Despite the existence of strong petroleum transparency and accountability legal rules, we find that compliance with them has worsened in the last three years. For example, only 26% of the information required by the petroleum laws has been published in 2019, compared to 42% in 2016. This seriously violates the petroleum transparency and accountability rules and poses high corruption and reputational risks. A number of factors explain this worsening of transparency in the country. Key among these is that the Ministry of Petroleum no longer publishes its annual marketing report, which is supposed to disclose key petroleum information in accordance with petroleum laws. We recommend an establishment of an independent institution, accountable to the National Legislature, to coordinate and publish petroleum information as provided for in the Petroleum Act 2012, Petroleum Revenue Management Act 2013, and Public Financial Management and Accountability Act 2011. Strict implementation of and compliance with transparency and accountability rules reduce corruption, minimize conflicts over natural resources, and save
revenues for strategic investment and development, culminating in peace and prosperity for all.
