Interpretación de los resultados del diagnóstico

In furtherance of earlier discussions advocating governance tools and indicators for sustainable

development, this subsection considers the extent to which Regulatory controls can foster

transparency and accountability within the oil industry. Basically, Regulatory controls can

operate as considerable tools to engender transparency in the petroleum sector when the

regulations and policies are clearly defined. Moreover, securing compliance with stipulated

guidelines is less complicated where the rules are accessible, assessable and unambiguous. This

subsection thus posits the efficacy of regulatory controls as useful tools to optimize

transparency and accountability in the petroleum sector.

The petroleum industry requires positive regulations, policies and management initiatives to

drive sustainable development goals. These are crucial for ensuring that the positive gains or

benefits from hydrocarbons exploitation are not altogether eroded by an extractive process that

undermines environmental protection, social or community development, and which fosters

irreparable damage. Thus, where the roles and responsibilities of regulators, oil producers,

government or its agencies articulate adequate guidelines accommodating all pillars of the

sustainable development paradigm it becomes easier to identify non-compliance with the

petroleum regulations or guidelines and apportion responsibility to enhance their enforcement.

192 _{See, SDG Indicators of Goal 8, 16 and 17.SDG Indicators Global indicator framework for the Sustainable Development} Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Report of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (E/CN.3/2017/2).

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Notwithstanding, it is however clarified that, developing or other oil-rich countries are beset

with environmental, economic and social problems not entirely from a lack of regulatory

frameworks which articulate environmental provisions, but from complex reasons which could

range from corruption,193 lack of political will to enforce the rules,194 or even malicious

intent,195 _{Oftentimes, environmental and social issues during oil exploitation are either}

inconsistently invoked, ignored or relegated and in some instances wielded as a weapon of sorts

for purposes unrelated to rectifying environmental damage.196 The foregoing therefore typifies

the obvious gaps created between the laws on paper and the reality wherein they are ineffectual

in oil producing states. This could be indicative of a manifest failure in harnessing or

maximising regulatory potential as tools for capacity and institutional strengthening to drive

sustainable development goals in the industry. This forms a focal point argued in this thesis as

to how the written laws or rules can be influential and instrumental to achieving sustainable

development goals. The essence of this argument is that, enforcement of environmental

regulations and social policies during petroleum exploitation remain bulwarks to making laws

and programmes work.

Nonetheless, securing compliance with petroleum regulations and its enforcement is

significantly contingent upon the apparent levels of petroleum process transparency. These

processes include: contractual phase to pre-exploration and post-production procedures and

accommodate: petroleum revenue transparency, procurement accounting and audit. Thus,

193 _{See,George, Barbara Crutchfield, and Kathleen A. Lacey. "Investigation of Halliburton Co./TSKJ's Nigerian business} practices: model for analysis of the current anti-corruption environment on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement." J. Crim. L. & Criminology 96 (2005): 503.

194 _{See K. Alexander and S. Gilbert, Oil and Governance Report – A Case Study of Chad, Angola, Gabon and Sao Tome é} Principe (Institute for Democracy in South Africa, 2008), at 35.

195 _{See, Tom Parfitt and Terry Macalister, “The End Comes for Yukos: Oil firm Declared Bankrupt and Auction Ordered”} Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/aug/02/oilandpetrol.russia Accessed at 12 March 2018. 196 _{An example is the case of Russia’s acquisition of Shell BP assets as reported by The Guardian. Russian authorities} threatened BP over alleged environmental violations on a Siberian field ‘in what is considered a wider attempt at state expropriation of assets and private resources in the oil sector, handed over to foreign companies when energy prices were low. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/sep/26/energy.russia Accessed on 12 March 2018. and Parfitt (2006). See also Partlett (2012).

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petroleum contracts awards should be publicised and competitive, to secure the best bids

anchoring all pillars of the sustainable development paradigm. Similarly, discretionary contract

awards should be avoided as they undermine transparency and accountability, inevitably

institutionalizing corruption in the oil industry.197 Moreover, bidding processes should be

openly advertised to prevent bribery, corruption or favouritism from marring the process.

Evidently, the adequacy of independent, impartial and transparent review processes to make

defaulters accountable, is suggestive of more sustainable oil industry governance procedures

advocated by SDG16, as they engender regulatory compliance and institutional strengthening.

Likewise, petroleum rules and policies should clearly delineate roles and responsibilities among the oil sector’s actors, as opaque or oblique rules attenuate transparency and

accountability.198 Hence, the existence of paper laws and environmental agencies cannot be

sufficient guarantees or proofs that preventive and adequate environmental safeguards,

mitigations, pollution controls and social protection measures will be undertaken during oil

production. The existing petroleum legal framework must thus anchor on clarity, avoid

granting covert powers or excessive discretionary authority to top industry officials as these

also foment corruption, abuse of powers, whilst impinging on transparency and accountability

in the industry, to render petroleum regulations bereft of influence or incompetent as

governance tools.

1.3.3. Sustainable Governance: International Partnerships as Governance Tools in Petro-