Colombia’s Oil Boom

Colombia is now Latin America’s fourth-largest oil exporter, but production seems to have hit a ceiling just shy of 1 million barrels per day. “Gushers and Guns,” a piece in this week’s Economist, delves into the security dimensions that initially cleared the way for Colombia’s oil boom, but now impede rapid advances.

This may be a blessing in disguise, as I argue in a World Politics Review briefing. Here’s part of the rationale:

The oil sector’s emergence signals an improved security environment, which may draw foreign investment into other sectors of the economy. But the current rate of production is unlikely to harken the sort of frenzy, now evident in Brazil, that could disadvantage other parts of the economy or necessitate repeated political pledges to spend oil revenues on new social programs.

Graphic from economist.com