The discovery of oil and natural gas is beneficial to small developing island states.

It is undeniable that
oil, fuels the global economy. Oil converted into petrol and diesel fuels our various modes of
transportation that allows for the movement of goods and people around the globe. Due to the
enormous financial resources that can accrue from this industry, the discovery of oil in any location,
particularly small developing states, is greeted with great optimism.

Extractive activities can also have profound social and political impacts. They can have a positive effect
on development by creating jobs, encouraging business and providing vital infrastructure for remote
communities such as roads, electricity, education and health.

Evidence around the world suggests that whether a community/country benefits from its discovery of
oil and gas is a function of the global position of the oil-producing country in question (Bloomfield 2008;
Hartzok 2004; National Academy of Sciences 2003; UNCTAD 2007). In most instances, local communities
and oil producing nations in the global West seem to derive more blessings from the oil discovery and
exploration in comparison to those in the global South. A good case in point is Norway which was the
poorest country in Scandinavia at the end of the 1960s but had by the end of the 1990s become the
wealthiest thanks to the discovery of oil in 1969. Larsen (2006) attributes this success to Norway’s ability
to prevent rent-seeking and corruption which have been identified as core elements of the resource
curse (Stevens 2003).

Key elements to Norway’s success include the existence of policy makers and politicians who refrain
from dipping their hands into the government kitty, a highly efficient judicial system that prosecutes the
few recalcitrant rent-seekers in an expeditious manner, a transparent reporting system that provides
information to every Norwegian citizen about exactly how much revenue has been generated from the
oil industry via both newspapers and the internet as well as a strong media that serves as a watchdog. In
addition, Norway’s public sector employs most of the citizenry. By so doing, the government is thus able
to channel some of the oil wealth into salaries that go directly into the pockets of citizens. In
appreciation of the fact that oil is not a renewable resource, the Norwegian government has also spent a
lot of time and effort building a manufacturing base, enhancing the human resource potential of its
citizens – 20% of its citizens having earned a university degree, five percentage points higher than the
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) mean – and creating a petroleum
fund where revenue is kept for future citizens of Norway (Larsen 2006).
Potential rebuttal:

The managerial principles: The generally acclaimed managerial principles of oil wealth are investigated
in these crucial areas: Macroeconomic, which was made up of fiscal management and exchange rate
policy; second, ensuring fairness and equity in oil wealth distribution, that is dealing with inequalities
that occur mostly in oil-rich nations; third, Dealing with multinational oil companies, which comprises of
the type of auction design and bidder preference; fourth, Oil management laws, which also include
setting account for oil revenue, transparency, accountability and, oversight and control of oil revenue.

There are two major macroeconomic challenges. First, is how to deal with the characteristic frequently
changing oil price and the volatility of its output and Second, is its recurrent economic imbalance. The
former could be resolved through manipulating the oil revenue share to be deposited into the national
budget and making investment with the remainder overseas. By establishing a permanent fund, where
only the interest on that fund is transferred to the budget is necessary to deal with the latter problem.

Laws that mandate independent bodies to oversee the management of the oil rents and the public
disclosure of information concerning all oil dealings among the oil companies and the government are
paramount to the effective management of the oil rent.

As long as there are environmental laws that would ensure that multinational oil companies comply
with environmental regulations to prevent a major disaster to the environment.