Participation in global value chains seemingly offers prospects for resource peripheries to achieve linkage-based diversification through strategies of 'thinning' and 'thickening'. The viewpoint presents insights from field research on the oil and gas sector in Argentina, Bolivia, Ghana and Namibia. Each case study reveals a particular challenge: downgrading of local suppliers, entry barriers to high-value added tasks, insufficient scale of exploration activities and rent seeking related to local content legislation. Although this list is not comprehensive, the viewpoint helps to better understand the poor economic performance of resource peripheries. The author concludes that it may be reasonable to consider development paths beyond extractive industries.