Briefing note: EITI and commodity trading

This is a briefing note on the EITI's role in commodity trading under the 2013 EITI Standard.

In many countries, the state receives a share of oil and gas that is being produced. These physical revenues can occur because the state or a State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) operates or owns shares in a producing license, through the existence of production-sharing contracts, or when companies make payments such as royalties with physical commodities rather than money.

The state or the SOE then sells these physical resources, often to trading companies. Given that governments implementing the EITI have to account for all revenues received from natural resources, trading companies increasingly figure in EITI Reports.