Overview
ResourceContracts.org is a repository of publicly available oil, gas, and mining contracts in machine-readable, searchable, open data format. ResourceContracts.org promotes greater transparency of investments in the extractive industries, and facilitates a better understanding of the contracts that govern them. Contracts are being tagged to highlight each contract's key financial, social, environmental, operational and legal terms. Some contracts include plain language summaries of these key clauses to facilitate understanding of the terms. The site allows you to conduct filtered searches to identify and compare the terms of contracts of interest to you. The site also includes examples of research and analysis conducted using the site.
ResourceContracts.org was first launched in 2012, and a new and improved website was released in 2015.
Why this site?
Contracts that govern the relationship between governments and oil, gas, and mining companies in the exploration and extraction of natural resources are complex. The terms of contracts affect everything from tax liabilities to local content obligations to the protection of the environment. Despite the critical role these contracts play in setting the rules for investments in extractive industries, they are often difficult to find. Even when publicly available, the tools to assess and compare the key provisions of such contracts are limited. This can result in a critical lack of knowledge for governments as they try to negotiate the best terms for their citizens, and can result in missed opportunities to learn from others’ past successes or missteps.
ResourceContracts.org was developed to fill the knowledge gap. In order to make the content of these often lengthy documents more accessible, ResourceContracts.org has developed a rigorous approach to tagging each contract’s financial, social, environmental, operational and legal terms. It is important to note that not all information about a project will be included in a contract, and additional obligations are often found in other parts of the legal framework, such as national laws and regulations.
Our partners
ResourceContracts.org is developed by the Natural Resource Governance Institute in partnership with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment. We are grateful for the contributions of a wide array of organizations including founding partner the World Bank, and Global Witness, Oxfam, Publish What You Pay International, Open Oil, Open Contracting Partnership, Cadasta, The Carter Center, Open Corporates, African Mining Legislation Atlas, and the World Resources Institute, among others.
Young Innovations developed the site as an open source platform available for others to use under an open source license.
Get involved
As the site grows, we are eager to hear from you if you have suggestions for oil, gas, and mining contracts to be added to the site. You can get in touch at resourcecontracts@resourcegovernance.org.