Abstract
Oil wealth can either be a curse or a blessing. However with prudent management oil wealth becomes a primary source for economic transformation. The purpose of this research is to investigate the management of oil revenue in some oil rich countries specifically Angola, Nigeria and Norway and draw some lessons for Ghana's nascent oil industry. These factors were identified in the main work and later categorised under three variables namely; stability, dependency and corruption. Using a qualitative study approach, the effects of these factors on the four countries being studied were analysed using the assessments of working papers by the World Bank, CIDCM and the Corruption Perception Index by the Transparency International. The study revealed that the main cause of mismanagement of oil revenue in Nigeria and Angola was the overdependence of the economies of both countries on their oil revenue, diminishing the effectiveness of good governance in both countries. Norway, on the other hand was successful in managing their resources because of good governance, strengthening their long and stable democracy. It concluded that, though the right policies have been put in place to regulate Ghana's petroleum industry, the judiciary system must be empowered to effectively enforce these policies, and the Government must look at investing its oil rent in sustainable developments. This will help the country in achieving their positive targets and not go down the same lane as the other unsuccessful countries in managing their oil revenue.
