What has been the impact of petroleum resources in Oman, UAE and Yemen? A blessing or a curse?

A phenomenon known as the "resource curse" has plagued a number of natural resource exporting countries. A country is described as "cursed" when it experiences economic stagnation or a decline in economic growth. A number of explanations including misuse of natural resource wealth have been provided in the academic literature to explain how a "curse" develops. This is counter-intuitive, as one would expect resource wealth to enhance development opportunities.The objective of this research is to examine the experiences of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Yemen, during 1970-2005, within the framework of existing hypotheses regarding the dynamics of economic development in oil based economies. The central question of the proposed research is "What has been the impact of petroleum resources on these economies? "Did these countries receive a blessing or a curse" If so, what were the reasons? If there is a curse, how can it be cured? If there is a blessing how can it be maintained?