The New Petroleum Producers Discussion Group convened for its second meeting May 12-13 at Chatham House. The meeting brought together national oil company (NOC) executives, government officials and civil society representatives from 18 different emerging producer countries, key governance advisory groups, and some large and smaller oil companies for a rich and open conversation about the challenges faced in the early stages of development of petroleum resources. This provided a unique opportunity for producers to learn from their peers.
These Summary Notes will review the following key issues, which were discussed at the meeting:
- Meaningful involvement of communities in decisions about the petroleum sector
- Ensuring investor accountability for operational risk in a low-capacity setting
- Allowing contracts to change with the rapidly changing environment of emerging producers
- Can emerging producers afford an “operator” NOC?
- Should NOCs take on a state agency role?
- Problems with coordinating foreign technical advice; and what one official called “advice fatigue”
A summary of the Annual Meeting is available at the link below.