Blessing or curse: Impacts of the Brazilian Pre-Salt oil exploration

Abstract

The discoveries of oil and gas in the so-called “Pre-Salt layer” have triggered a lot of discussions about their economic effect. In this paper we discuss in detail a less discussed dimension: the impact of Pre-Salt layer in the structure of the Brazilian economy, especially the composition of the industry and exports. Similar consequences in the country of “Dutch disease” and “deindustrialization” due to revenues from oil exports are evaluated. The methodology used is a dynamic global general equilibrium model, with specific features for the treatment of the issues raised.

Keywords

• Pre-Salt
• Dutch disease
• Industry
• Computable general equilibrium model