Most oil-producing nations are rife with corruption, and oil companies should provide more information about their operations to help clean up the market

Most oil-producing nations are rife with corruption, and oil companies should provide more information about their operations to help clean up the market, a global watchdog group said today in an annual report. Angola, Azerbaijan, Chad, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Libya, Nigeria, Russia, Sudan, Venezuela and Yemen scored very low in clean government practices, said Transparency International chairman Peter Eigen in releasing 2004's Corruption Perceptions Index. "In these countries, public contracting in the oil sector is plagued by revenues vanishing into the pockets of western oil executives, middlemen and local officials," he said. Eigen said oil companies could help stamp out corruption by publishing details of the fees, royalties and other payments made to governments and state oil companies. Transparency International said 146 countries were surveyed for the report — not just oil-producers — and it found that corruption was rampant in 60 nations. The survey found that 106 scored lower than a 5, with a top score of 10 being the least corrupt. Bangladesh, Haiti, Nigeria, Chad, Myanmar, Azerbaijan and Paraguay were perceived to be the most corrupt, all scoring lower than 2. The United States ranks number 17, with a score of 7.5, tied with Belgium and Ireland, better than France but worse than Canada.Finland, New Zealand, Denmark, Iceland, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland were rated the least corrupt, all scoring higher than 9 out of 10 on the index.