Covering crude bargains: The impacts of investigative media reporting on oil deals

Abstract

After three decades of work on the resource curse and anti-corruption initiatives, poor resource governance and dubious oil deals are still common occurrences. Despite the climate imperative of phasing-out fossil fuels, these ‘crude bargains’ open up new oil acreage in exchange for questionable promises of prosperity. Media reporting can play a major role in exposing these deals and the risks of ‘oil curse’, yet few studies examine the practices and impacts of journalism. Looking at the case of Guyana, this study discusses the interplay between international extractive sector governance initiatives, investigative reporting, and domestic policy reforms. Whereas investors and the ruling party see massive profit potential in Guyana's offshore oil deposits, critics say this upper middle-income South American country is selling out its natural bounty and getting little in return. Beyond questioning the rhetoric of oil-driven development, findings suggest that media reporting can help expose questionable practices, push for contract disclosure, demand clarifications from authorities and corporations, and motivate some authorities to publicly commit to reforms and even to move ‘beyond oil’.