Source: Fuel Fix.com
Federal regulators on Wednesday voted to require U.S. companies to disclose what they pay to harvest crude, natural gas and minerals from other countries, delivering a big blow to oil companies that say the mandate will force them to shut down drilling in some areas.
The rule adopted 2-1 by the Securities and Exchange Commission, drew applause from human rights activists and social justice groups that insist the added transparency could discourage corruption in resource-rich countries.
Mandated by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial law, the new rule requires 1,100 publicly traded oil, gas and mining companies to report payments exceeding $100,000 made to other countries “to further the commercial development” of the countries’ resources.
The SEC rejected oil companies’ pleas for an exception from reporting payments to countries that have their own laws prohibiting such disclosure, including Qatar, Cameroon, China and Angola. The American Petroleum Institute said that could force oil companies to wind down operations in those countries.
Shell Oil Co. warned last year that it faced $20 billion in costs to pull out of Qatar and China, without such exemptions.
Energy industry representatives also warned the mandated disclosure — which would not be required for foreign state-owned oil companies or privately held U.S. companies –would give their rivals a competitive advantage.
They unsuccessfully lobbied the SEC for latitude to disclose payments on a country-level basis, rather than for individual projects. Project-specific details could give rivals too much information about where oil and gas companies are targeting their spending, the industry warned.
Although the final rule requires project-level disclosure, it gives companies some latitude to define those projects. API chief economist John Felmy said that didn’t go far enough.
“The rules will give foreign oil and natural gas companies access to confidential, proprietary information that they could use against U.S. companies when competing for crucial energy resources around the globe,” Felmy said. “State-owned foreign firms could plunder this information to help them determine the strategies and resource levels of their U.S. rivals.”
Humanitarian activists say the project-level details are needed to ensure foreign officials can’t obscure potentially big payments tied to small endeavors. The entire rule is aimed at preventing graft and exposing corruption in resource-rich nations where the oil wealth isn’t trickling down.
SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar said the rule would “facilitate transparency through disclosure” and shine a light on payments to ensure they are properly used. “The final rule we consider today is in the interest of investors and the public interest.”
But Commissioner Daniel Gallagher said the costs were too high and insisted that financial regulation isn’t the right vehicle for “this kind of social policy exercise.”
Without a doubt, he said, the rule will put U.S. oil and gas companies at a competitive disadvantage. Country-level reporting would have eliminated much of that competitive risk, Gallagher said.
Human rights activists were guardedly optimistic Wednesday, as they reviewed the final details of the SEC mandate.
“The devil is in the details,” said Ian Gary, senior policy manager with Oxfam America’s oil, gas and mining campaign. “We’re in the process of thoroughly analyzing the rules to determine whether they adhere to the statutory requirements and Congressional intent.”
The final rule would set a $100,000 threshold for payments within each fiscal year. Covered payments would include taxes, royalties, fees, production entitlements, bonuses, dividends and the cost of infrastructure improvements.
Under the rule, companies would be able to disclose the payments in a separate form each year, rather than in their annual reports. The reports would be required within 150 days after the end of each fiscal year.