Advertisement

Oxfam irked by court nod in favor of oil

WASHINGTON, July 3 (UPI) -- Relief group Oxfam America said it was disappointed with a court ruling against more transparency in the oil, natural gas and mining sector.

The American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group, lauded the decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stop the Securities and Exchange Commission from implementing parts of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform act.

Advertisement

API takes issue with U.S. legislation requiring those in the extractive industry to disclose payments they've made to the governments hosting their exploratory campaigns.

API general counsel Harry Ng said the rules would be a blow to the energy industry's competitive edge.

"U.S. companies are leading the way to increase transparency, but the rule would have jeopardized transparency efforts already under way by making American firms less competitive against state-owned oil companies," he said in a statement.

Oxfam said the European Union passed a recent law requiring those in the extractive industry to disclose payments in a way that mirrors the Dodd-Frank legislation.

Oxfam policy director Ian Gary said the organization "strongly disagrees" with the court's decision in the U.S. court.

"The oil industry has never been able to clearly show the existence of host country prohibitions against payment disclosure," he said in a Tuesday statement.

Advertisement

Latest Headlines