By ThinkProgress War Room, Jul 6, 2011

Reprinted from Think Progress from the Center for American Progress

GOP Tax Giveaway of the Day: Big Oil Subsidies

Oil from a ruptured ExxonMobil pipeline is coursing through the picturesque Yellowstone River as we speak, but Big Oil’s real gusher is located on Capitol Hill. Big Oil’s best friends in Congress make sure that year after year, billions of dollars in taxpayer funds flow into the coffers of the most profitable companies the world has ever known. In return, Big Oil spends millions each year to make sure that its friends keep their seats.

Here’s why it’s time to make the easiest of all choices — the one to end taxpayer-funded giveaways to Big Oil.

WHAT: Wasteful and unnecessary taxpayer subsidies for oil companies

HOW MUCH THEY WASTE: $77 BILLION from 2011-2021

WHO BENEFITS: Oil companies large and small, including the five largest oil companies who raked in $32 BILLION in profits in just the first quarter of 2011. ExxonMobil alone made nearly $11 billion in profits during the first quarter of this year.

WHO ELSE BENEFITS: Big Oil’s friends in Congress benefit from millions in campaign cash from the oil and gas industry. During the 2010 election cycle alone, the oil and gas industry pumped more than $21 MILLION into congressional campaign accounts — more than three-quarters of which went to Republicans. These same Republicans have voted repeatedly — and nearly unanimously — in favor of keeping oil subsidies over the past several months. In addition to lavish spending on direct campaign contributions, the oil and gas industry also spent a whopping $145 MILLION last year to lobby Congress.

DINNER TABLE FAST FACTS:

The average American pays an effective federal income tax rate of 20.4 percent, while ExxonMobil had an effective tax rate of just 17.6 percent over the past three years. That is of course far below the statutory corporate tax rate of 35 percent.
Even Big Oil CEOs themselves admit that they don’t need the subsidies. ConocoPhillips CEO Jim Mulva told Congress: “With respect to oil and gas exploration and production, we do not need incentives.”

IN ONE SENTENCE: Instead of ending Medicare to pay for more tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, and huge corporations, we need to end the billions in taxpayer giveaways to Big Oil.

Full article

Nigeria: Public Information is Set Free As FOI Becomes Law, by Idowu Sowunmi, All Africa, 1 June 2011

Abuja — Do you want to know how much Nigeria spends on importing petroleum products and who the contractors are? Simple. All you have to do now is write a letter to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to request the information.

Within seven days, you are entitled to a response. If not, you can take NNPC to court and get an order to compel the corporation to reveal the information.

It may even get better: if any NNPC official attempts to destroy or doctor the records, he or she will be liable to a criminal prosecution, which may result in a one-year prison term.

Welcome to the age of Freedom of Information in Nigeria where many files marked “top secret” by government officials can now be made available to ordinary Nigerians under the Freedom of Information Act, which was signed at the weekend by President Goodluck Jonathan after passage by the National Assembly last week.

This is expected to promote transparency and accountability in government.

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From the CBS Business Network blog comes an article about the recent achievement of the Publish What You Pay coalition of which Justice in Nigeria Now is an active member:

Bono Versus Big Oil: The Resource Curse Battle Moves to the SEC

By Kirsten Korosec | August 17, 2010

Activists, including U2 frontman Bono, cheered — while Big Oil blasted — an 11th-hour insertion into the Dodd-Frank financial reform law last month that will require all companies registered with the SEC to disclose their royalties, bonuses and other payments to foreign governments for the extraction of oil, gas and minerals. But the fight isn’t over. It’s just moving to the SEC.

How can I be so sure? The American Petroleum Institute, the powerful oil and gas lobby group, told me so. API spokeswoman Misty McGovern wouldn’t go so far as to reveal the group’s plans, saying only that they were “in the early stages of formulating a strategy.” But she did confirm that the SEC will be the next battleground.

The amendment, inserted by Sens. Richard Lugar, R-IN., and Ben Cardin, D-MD., aims to end the so-called resource curse, in which underdeveloped countries are paid handsomely for their natural resources, but monies aren’t passed down to the poverty-laden population. The amendment not-so-coincidentally pulls directly from Lugar’s now-idled Energy Security Through Transparency Act.

The law now heads to the SEC, where the agency has about nine months to craft the wording of the regulation. Oil, gas and mining companies will lobby the commission to keep the annual reporting requirements as vague as possible. Their ideal scenario? To get the SEC to only require companies to provide aggregated information, McGowen said. For instance, instead of Exxon (XOM) having to disclose detailed payment information of each project in the foreign country where it’s operating, the company would only have to provide the lump sum paid out that year.

Companies, including Exxon, argue the law will put U.S. businesses at a distinct competitive disadvantage because their international rivals would be able to see how much they’re paying for rights to develop oil and gas fields or extract minerals.

That’s not entirely accurate. The disclosure rule forces any company registered with the SEC to follow the rules. That means companies like UK-based BP, Australia’s mining giants BHP Billiton (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RTP), Brazil’s Petrobras (PBR) and even a few Chinese energy companies, like CNOOC, have to make the same disclosure as U.S.-based Chevron (CVX). That being said, there are some national oil companies — or NOCs — that aren’t registered with the SEC and in those cases, it would be a competitive disadvantage for all the SEC-listed ones.

Exxon and the like are more supportive of what they call a more inclusive international requirement, specifically, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. It’s not that EITI isn’t a worthy organization. It is. But the new disclosure law is powerful because it’s widespread and not voluntary, which makes it far more attractive to activists seeking change right now.

The Senate, in a 60-39 vote today, gave its final approval to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer  Protection Act–which includes a landmark provision requiring energy and mining companies to disclose how much they pay to foreign countries and the U.S. government.

The provision, based on the Energy Security Through Transparency Act (S. 1700), covers all oil, gas, and mining companies registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This applies to companies from around the world like the major oil companies operating in Nigeria: Chevron, Shell, and ExxonMobil.

For the people of the Niger Delta, this legislation will provide access to information that can be used to combat corruption, seek a fair share of revenues from oil extraction, and bring communities a step closer to holding companies accountable for paying the brutal Nigerian military to suppress dissent.

On June 30, the House of Representatives passed the same legislation that the Senate passed today. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law next week.

JINN and its members pioneered a U.S. grassroots strategy in support of the work of the U.S. and global Publish What You Pay Coalition, by mobilizing support from the cities of Berkeley, Oakland and Richmond, California. Each of these municipalities adopted a resolution in support of the Energy Security Through Transparency Act (which was the basis for the language that was passed today). These resolutions were used by the lobbying team on Capitol Hill.

More information below:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 15, 2010

CONTACT:
Abby Rubinson, abby@justiceinnigerianow.org, (415) 990-0792
Isabel Munilla, imunilla@pwypusa.org, (202) 525-2754 / (202) 680-4606

U.S. legislation shines light on billions in oil and mineral payments

Measure sets new global standard for corporate transparency

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 15, 2010 — The Senate gave final approval today to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act with a landmark provision requiring energy and mining companies registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to disclose how much they pay to foreign countries and the U.S. government for oil, gas, and minerals.

This historic measure gives citizens in resource-rich countries information they need to combat corruption in the oil and mineral sector and to demand government accountability for responsible resource use. The House passed the same legislation on June 30, and it is expected to be signed into law by President Obama next week.

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