The dean of Economic Sciences At the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD), Antonio Ciriaco said today that the studies that have been carried out indicate the possibility of there being oil in the country, however, he assures that not everything is positive.
According to the conventional model of countries that extract and market oil, they have an ascending economy, however, the economist points out that the «Dutch disease syndrome».
In this regard, he recalled when deposits of this mineral were discovered in Holland and later all the businessmen only wanted to invest in this area, neglecting the other sectors.
He also gave the example of Venezuela, arguing that when the price of this energy product rose, the country became richer and when it fell, it became poorer.
For Ciriaco, oil can take away the possibility of “diversify the economy.”
In the case of Quisqueya, he highlighted that it has visibility in various sectors such as: mining, tourism, agriculture, remittances, free trade zones.
You may also read: The DR has a probable existence of 543 million barrels of oil
Is this amount of oil profitable?
In the nation there is the possibility of 543 million barrels of oil in four basins, from which a total of 100 million barrels can be extracted. 15% equivalent to 74.3 million pesos, according to the third executive report: «Volumetric estimation of oil in the Azua, San Juan, Cibao and Enriquillo basins»carried out by the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (Refidomsa), in collaboration with the Pedro Henriquez Ureña University (UNPHU).
Despite this, Ciriaco specifies that in commercial terms, the volumes of black gold that could be found in the country are not exploitable, however, he thinks that this aspect should be further investigated, “it would be a stroke of luck for the Dominican Republic because oil represents exports in 18%«.
He also said in an interview broadcast on the Uno + Uno program that going from being a net importer of this fuel to being an exporter would transform the productive structure on the half island.
