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2009 | OriginalPaper | Buchkapitel
Oil and Gas Resources of the Middle East and North Africa: a Curse or a Blessing?
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The area covering the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) occupies a key position in the geopolitics of energy. The area, which represents 5 per cent of the world’s population, contains 66 per cent of world oil reserves and 45 per cent of world gas reserves. Some of these countries are rich or very rich. However, this windfall wealth is unevenly distributed and does not automatically lead to economic development. Actually, many of these countries suffer from what the economists call the ‘resource curse’ (more specifically here the oil curse). The oil curse creates economic distortions that impede economic development. In addition, oil dependence has a negative impact on the quality of institutions, in particular when it concerns democracy and corruption. For most of these countries, climate change is not considered as a real issue and energy prices are heavily subsidised.