The curse of oil?

The discovery of hydrocarbons in a country results in a number of challenges: the resultant environmental impact; distortion of the economy and social changes, often related to labour-force migration which causes strains on the infrastructure supporting population centres; and, finally, possible misuse of the resulting revenue and associated corruption. While technology can help to minimize the environmental impact, the remaining challenges cannot be remedied by the resource company alone — consultation, planning and partnership are necessary. The steps which companies should take to ensure real benefits from hydrocarbon development are examined, and the role of international bodies in setting standards, against which local solutions can be benchmarked, are discussed. Examples are drawn from the Philippines, China, Nigeria, Oman and Chad.