Planet Money · Wednesday, July 29, 2026
Farouk Al-Qasim, an Iraqi geologist, played a crucial role in Norway's oil industry after moving there in the 1960s. Despite initial skepticism about oil discovery, Al-Qasim's expertise was instrumental in analyzing exploration data and advising on the careful management of oil resources, preventing Norway from falling victim to the 'oil curse'.
“My name is Farouk Al-Qasim.”
“You see, the Norwegian geological survey had already said that there is no hope in heaven of ever finding oil, oil gas.”
“They hired him. And his first job, first job they gave him was they asked him to look over the geological results from the oil companies that had been doing test drillings.”
“He told them, Look, you've discovered a lot of oil. It's a lot of oil, but it's not enough to make the whole country very rich.”