The petroleum sector is a rentier return sector that provides major resources to countries, making it a hotbed of corruption and abuse as it negatively affects the economy and the competitiveness of the rest of the productive sectors.

Petroleum resources are characterized by their instability due to their vulnerability to international price variables, which reflects fluctuations in the volume of revenues and affects the ability of countries to plan and set public budgets. The sheer size of these resources makes them susceptible to corruption -especially in the least devel - oped countries- and affects the structure of the economy that would increasingly fear becoming centered around them. However, some of the most prominent characteristics of these resources are that they are limited and prone to depletion, in a sense that the revenues they generate must be exploited in long-term investments to ensure the sustainability of their returns and preserve the rights of generations.

Hence, it is the responsibility of states and governments to manage their petroleum resources and ensure their proper use to avoid them falling into what is known as the "resource curse".