ABSTRACT
The oil booms of the 1970s brought great wealth, and later great anguish, to many petroleum-rich countries in the developing world. The number of conflicts based in oil-producing countries is likely to grow in the future as stratospheric prices of crude oil push more countries in the developing world to produce oil and gas. Oil wealth can trigger conflict in, it can cause economic instability, which then leads to political instability. Even with greater transparency and steadier revenues, many low income countries simply lack the capacity to translate oil wealth into roads, schools, and health clinics. For these, the best way to steer clear of the oil curse may be not to sell oil for cash at all but to trade it directly for the goods and services their people need. Oil is not unique; diamonds and other minerals produce similar problems.
