Economic impacts of natural resources on a regional economy: the case of the pre-salt oil discoveries in Espirito Santo, Brazil

Abstract

The Brazilian government has recently confirmed the discovery of a huge oil and natural gas field in the pre-salt layer of the country’s southeastern coast. It has been said that the oil fields can boost Brazil’s oil production and turn the country into one of the largest oil producers in the world. The fields are spatially concentrated in the coastal areas of a few Brazilian states that may directly benefit from oil production. This paper uses an interregional computable general equilibrium model to assess the impacts of pre-salt on the economy of the State of Espírito Santo, a region already characterized by an economic base that is heavily reliant on natural resources. We focus our analysis on the structural economic impacts on the local economy.