Bargain hunting in the low oil price environment: key issues for investors when bidding for hydrocarbons in new frontiers

devine, richard ; severova, ana;

New hydrocarbon frontiers open for various reasons, including technological advances and beneficial economic conditions. In this article, the authors focus on countries opening for business because of political changes and how foreign entrants can best manage investment risk in these countries. Investing in frontier markets may be challenging for a number of reasons, however, the prize for overcoming these challenges can be significant. In the current low oil price environment, risk tolerant investors may see a perfect buying opportunity in promising frontiers. The authors provide an overview of ten key issues (such as political risk and local law risk) that, regardless of the oil price, investors should consider before bidding for oil and gas assets in frontier markets and advise on effective mitigation strategies