I have heard the argument before that oil production is great, because it helps feed people in other countries, or it helps enrich poor nations, or it helps drive the economy of third world nations. None of which seems to be true.

Some facts from Oxfam:

• Over 60 percent of the world’s poorest people live in countries rich in natural resources – but they rarely share the wealth.

• 12 of the world’s 25 most mineral-dependent countries and six of the world’s most oil-dependent countries are classified by the World Bank as “highly indebted poor countries.”

• In Africa, about 3/4 of the continent’s trade relates to the natural resource sector. In 2003, US investment in African oil exceeded 10 billion per year, some 2/3 to 3/4 of all its total investment in the continent.

• African oil exporters are likely to receive $400 billion in government revenues over the next decade, an amount that would dwarf feasible increases in official aid.

• By 2015, oil revenues in oil-producing countries could exceed annual aid needs by $35 billion.

• In Angola, more than $4 billion in state oil revenues disappeared from government coffers between 1997 and 2002, an amount roughly equal to the entire sum the government spent on social programs in the same period.

However a much better plan would be one where the poor countries are able to export a product that NEVER runs out, they could count on this revenue for basically the foreseeable future. That is just what Northern African countries are planning with Europe. (see here and here)