OnceoverWe do not have a retreating Iraqi army setting fire to...

Onceover

We do not have a retreating Iraqi army setting fire to the wells as they go.

Clearly the election period will be tense and it would be reasonable to expect a level of unrest. However the new government, be they socialist or Islamist will NEED a functioning and expanding O&G industry.

DFAT advisories need to be read in context. Within a country they are not location specific either. Would I take my family to Tunis for a holiday ATM? NO Would I go there to add some value (if I could) to an out of town project? YES

The level of risk depends on WHO you are WHAT you are doing and HOW you manage the risk. For the locals, going about their regular business in the O&G industry the risk is very low and in this respect I expect that the drilling contractor will just get on with the job. They don't need heaps of people from Australia to be there holding their hands lol. If oversight is required a local looking petroleum engineer from Gulfsands could do it.

My own reading of the situation is that the army is in effective control while elements of the police force, aligned to the previous regime have been sidelined. It may take some time for the power vaccuum to fill therefore the call up of previous soldiers .... presumably to take on policing type duties. I can't comment further as I'm not there, and of course things can change from day to day.

I posted on another thread that the CXY holders experience with sovereign risk at Kingagroy was far worse than the reception that company would now receive in Tunisia.


By the way Gulfsands say "The well is expected to take approximately 45 days to drill AND evaluate."

cheers