Extractive Industry Source Book
Publisher: World Bank Institute
Date: 2013
Topics: Extractive Resources
Knowledge of the oil, gas and mining industries has become a subject of acute controversy as it has become clear that their activities can bring more costs than benefits to the country that hosts them. The surge of activity and investment they bring can trigger high expectations only to disappoint as the benefits are retained by a few and the costs are borne by many. Development of the country in which the operations take place may not necessarily follow upon such investment, at least not in the sense that it generates long-term development impacts. Yet, if a lack of knowledge is among the reasons for this failure in oil, gas and mining, it is rarely knowledge of a narrowly technical kind that is to blame. It is knowledge of the elements of governance that is deficient or at fault, rather than the disciplines of science and technology.