\n<\/p>\n
T<\/span>hough 60 miles (100km) apart, the Brazilian municipalities of Presidente Kennedy in Esp\u00edrito Santo state and Campos dos Goytacazes in Rio de Janeiro state have one big thing in common: oil. Since late in the last century, their public funds have been bolstered by billions in royalties from oil finds in the offshore Campos Basin.<\/p>\n Yet despite having significantly more resources than other towns and cities in Brazil, both still face problems such as poor sanitation and healthcare, inadequate social housing and state education as well as corruption scandals.<\/p>\n <\/span>Despite Presidente Kennedy receiving record amounts of oil revenues per capita, the town still suffers form poor infrastructure.<\/span> Photograph: Jos\u00e9 C\u00edcero\/Ag\u00eancia P\u00fablica<\/p>\n The Brazilian government\u2019s resolve to continue to explore for oil \u2013 in June, it announced it would auction a series of oil and gas exploration blocks, including 19 of 47 areas near the mouth of the Amazon River \u2013 echoes a decades-old Brazilian promise that oil exploration would benefit its people, despite evidence that it has not always resulted in gains for much of the population.<\/p>\n A map showing th eocation of Presidente Kennedy and Campos dos Goytacazes<\/p>\n Analysis based on Candido Mendes University (Ucam)\u2019s InfoRoyalties, a database of Brazilian oil revenues, reveals that most of the 15 municipalities with the highest oil revenues per capita between 1999 and 2024 have mediocre social and economic indicators, often ranking among the worst in their regions.<\/p>\n Adjusted for inflation, these municipalities collectively received nearly 150bn reais (\u00a320bn) over the five years, or about R$95,000 for each resident.<\/p>\n <\/span>One resident of Presidente Kennedy says: \u2018Many say our people could be among the wealthiest, and I agree, given the royalties it receives.\u2019 <\/span> Photograph: Jos\u00e9 C\u00edcero\/Ag\u00eancia P\u00fablica<\/p>\n Although royalties have enabled local councils to fund infrastructure projects and welfare programmes, they have not significantly reduced poverty. Nearly one in four people in these municipalities live below the poverty line, with a family income per head of less than 218 reais (\u00a329).<\/p>\n Our people could be among the wealthiest \u2026 the city should be a showpiece but instead it remains a city of miseryF\u00e9lix de Jesus, farmer<\/p>\n In 2023, six of these 15 municipalities are ranked lowest in their states based on the Brazilian federal government\u2019s Basic Education Development Index for early primary education, while only four are top performers in later years.<\/p>\n More than half of the municipalities have rates of preventable deaths and infant mortality (ie of children aged less than one year) <\/strong>that are only average or worse for their states.<\/p>\n Lia Hasenclever, a researcher at Ucam, says the oil revenues have had little positive impact on key socioeconomic development indicators. \u201cMunicipalities which do not receive royalties perform better in health and education than those that do,\u201d she says. \u201cOil has an economic impact but no social impact.\u201d<\/p>\n T<\/span>he small town of Presidente Kennedy holds the record for Brazil\u2019s highest oil revenue per person. Between 1999 and 2024, the municipality received 5.7bn reais in royalties \u2013 or nearly R$390,000 for each of its 14,600 or so residents.<\/p>\n <\/span>Campos dos Goytacazes had oil revenues averaging $1bn a year from 2019 to 2024 but still has abandoned health facilities around the city. <\/span> Photograph: Jos\u00e9 C\u00edcero\/Ag\u00eancia P\u00fablica<\/p>\n The oil boom provided \u201cluxuries\u201d that are rare in other municipalities of similar size and many public facilities were upgraded.<\/p>\n But everyday problems persist. Despite investments in health facilities, including the local hospital, residents are frustrated by the lack of provision for more complex medical care and complain about medicine shortages at health centres.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you need an MRI, ultrasound or to see a specialist, you have to go to other municipalities,\u201d says one Presidente Kennedy resident who preferred not to be named. Pregnant women are sometimes forced to travel up to an hour to reach a birth centre or maternity ward, they add.<\/p>\n In the Marob\u00e1 Beach area of Presidente Kennedy, basic sanitation is lacking and residents rely on bottled water. \u201cThe water here was very poor, sometimes tasting like iron. Now it\u2019s better, but still not drinkable,\u201d says Renata Oliveira, secretary of the town\u2019s Z14 fishing company.<\/p>\n <\/span>Campos dos Goytacazes\u2019s Samb\u00f3dromo, <\/em>a stadium built to host the samba schools\u2019 annual parade, had its wiring stolen and lies unused for most of the year. <\/span> Photograph: Jos\u00e9 C\u00edcero\/Ag\u00eancia P\u00fablica<\/p>\n F\u00e9lix de Jesus, a farmer, says he cannot see where the oil money goes. \u201cMany say our people could be among the wealthiest, and I agree.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven the royalties it receives, the city should be a showpiece, but instead, it remains a city of misery,\u201d he says. \u201cWhere is this money going?\u201d<\/p>\n In Campos dos Goytacazes, a city of about 500,000 people, oil revenues totalled more than 37bn reais from 1999 to 2024, averaging R$72,700 per resident.<\/p>\n But, says Ucam professor Rodrigo Lira, \u201cthis budget increase has not resulted in social justice or reduced inequalities. No research demonstrates any progress in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>Even with a larger budget than bigger cities, Campos de Goytacazes\u2019s education indicators are below the state average. A school caretaker set up a charity to help pupils with cheap extra tuition.<\/span> Photograph: Jos\u00e9 C\u00edcero\/Ag\u00eancia P\u00fablica<\/p>\n As in Marob\u00e1, residents along Campos de Goytacazes\u2019 only beach, Farol de S\u00e3o Thom\u00e9, lack basic sanitation and must install septic tanks themselves. Urban cleaning and rubbish collection services are poor, and residents use insect repellant constantly to deter the mosquitoes that breed nearby.<\/p>\n Local people also complain about the education provision. In Novo J\u00f3quei, Jos\u00e9 Ricardo, a school caretaker who also offers low-cost tutoring for the area\u2019s children through his charity, Anjos Solid\u00e1rios do Bem (Solidarity Angels of Good) \u2013<\/em> says there are teenagers moving from fifth to sixth grade, aged 11, without any solid educational foundation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could be in a much better situation now if the politicians had invested in industry and in the city\u2019s future,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Brazilian politicians have long championed the idea that oil wealth is key to the development of Brazil and its municipalities, ever since the first oilfields were explored.<\/p>\n <\/span>President Luiz In\u00e1cio \u2018Lula\u2019 da Silva, centre, with ministers and Magda Chambriard, head of the state-owned oil firm Petrobras on his right, at the Duque de Caxias refinery last month. The government wants to rapidly increase oil production, claiming it will cut poverty.<\/span> Photograph: Dado Galdieri\/Bloomberg\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Brazil\u2019s goal is to become a leading global oil producer and a major exporter of fossil fuels by 2035. The National Petroleum Agency\u2019s (ANP) expansion of offshore oil exploration, announced in June, was a proposal made by Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva\u2019s leftwing government. it has already borne fruit: earlier this week BP announced that it has made its largest global oil and gas discovery in 25 years in the country\u2019s Santos basin.<\/p>\n Lula, and other Brazilian policymakers such as the mines and energy minister, Alexandre Silveira, argue that oil extraction from the Equatorial Margin reserves, located 109 miles (175km) off the coast, which includes the Amazon River mouth, could boost development in the northern state of Amap\u00e1, which ranks 25th of Brazil\u2019s 27 states in the country\u2019s Human Development Index (HDI).<\/p>\n <\/span>The municipality spent millions paving the promenade along Presidente Kennedy\u2019s Marob\u00e1 Beach, but there are few visitors to the area. <\/span> Photograph: Jos\u00e9 C\u00edcero\/Ag\u00eancia P\u00fablica<\/p>\n But Sergio Gobetti, from the Brazilian government\u2019s Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), argues that claiming oil money will solve Amap\u00e1\u2019s socioeconomic problems is a predictable yet flawed argument.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom Brazil\u2019s and global experience,\u201d he says, \u201cthere is no assurance that increased oil revenues will lead to true development.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Though 60 miles (100km) apart, the Brazilian municipalities of Presidente Kennedy in Esp\u00edrito Santo state and Campos dos Goytacazes in Rio de Janeiro state have one big thing in common: oil. Since late in the last century, their public funds have been bolstered by billions in royalties from oil finds in the offshore Campos Basin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[498,8087,8086,918,5099,2062,268,1437,7611,3148,8085],"class_list":{"0":"post-14448","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-among","9":"tag-awash","10":"tag-brazilian","11":"tag-development","12":"tag-inequality","13":"tag-money","14":"tag-oil","15":"tag-poorest","16":"tag-royalties","17":"tag-towns","18":"tag-wheres"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}