Corruption in petroleum - within and beyond the sector

This paper addresses corruption in the governance of petroleum and underscores the importance of treating this problem as a result of factors that go far beyond sector regulation. Improving sector regulation within a country is only part of the solution – and not the most important one. Who obtains access to the proceeds and how they use them are far more decisive aspects. This paper argues that the United Nations Convention against Corruption is a decisive tool to bridge anticorruption initiatives within the petroleum sector with efforts to fight illicit flow of capital and to secure transparency in the international financial sector.