Advice

‘For god’s sake don’t go very quickly about it. And then you have time to think in terms of institutions, legislation, transparency. Build up defenses against the oil curse as you go along. Take it slowly, make sure you don’t create a bonanza that drowns all common sense.’

From

An Iraqi geologist named Farouk al-Kasim advised Norway on how to organize its oil industry, and he is credited with helping it escape the resource curse.

What Norway Did:

‘Perhaps, even more amazing is what the Norwegians decided to do with the money they made off the oil. Initially, they decided that the citizens of Norway wouldn’t see any of it. They choose not to spend it on schools, roads or sports stadiums. Instead, in the beginning, they reinvested almost all the money they got back into the developing the oil industry — into drilling new wells, doing new explorations and developing new technologies.’