Role of a government
A government owns land, which is believed to contain oil reserves. The government enters into a contractual arrangement with an oil company to drill for oil and sell the product, which the oil company will do through a separate vehicle. The oil company will have to evaluate the contractual terms of the arrangement closely to determine whether it has joint control, control, or some other type of interest. The ownership percentages in the separate vehicle do not necessarily determine whether there is control by one party or joint control.
In some cases, the contractual terms may give all final decision-making authority over the development activities to the government, in which case, the government would have control, and the oil company would not have joint control.
However, in other cases, the decision-making authority may require Unanimous consent by the government and the oil company to direct the activities, in which case, they would have joint control.