Here is a summary and a overview on the topic: development prospects oil and gas rich countries. Oil and gas are natural resources that hold an important role in the global economic stage. Many of the prices and daily transactions are affected and dictated by the price of oil in the market. Oil is very important because not only is it a marker for the economy but it is very useful in its various forms, as kerosene, fuels and other forms of energy. This gives oil a bigger part to play in the lives of people as it has become one of the necessities of living either in its crude form or as a refined product. In recent years, the demand for oil has risen even more because of discoveries in its usefulness in areas such as medicine and engineering. There are many countries blessed with the resource of oil and also there are countries who may not have oil but play a very important role in the manufacturing and processing of oil to become a useful resource. Oil is not a blessing in all the cases, in the economic sense, any shock or fall in the oil price affects the market prices generally. Also, some countries have benefitted greatly from oil discovery while others hve suffered from over dependent on oil and neglect of other natural resources as evident in many African countries. Nevertheless, the alternatives produced from oil have made life more convenient. Countries such as Norway, UAE, Kuwait have profited from their discovery of oil as they used the profits generated to diversify their economies and reduce the dependence on oil. In contrast, countries such as Nigeria and Libya have neglected other natural resources and have become over dependent on oil resources. This has led to an imbalance in their economies because the national income is focused mainly on oil while other likely sources of income like tourism are neglected creating socio-economic and political problems such as corruption, wars and poverty Countries like the United States are the major consumers of oil and gas products because of the high level of technology and need for energy. The United States trades with many oil-producing countries and can be identified as one of the biggest players in the oil industry. Multinational companies such as BP, Shell, Chevron are also important as they have established refineries and drills to process and manufacture oil from all over the world. Oil is a vital part of todays economy and the demand will continue to be high, but for some countries like Nigeria, it could be a curse and the lack of it in its natural form could be helpful in guiding the country toward other means of income like agriculture and tourism and in the long run eliminate socio-economic and political issues.