Playing it by ear on Western upstream investment in oil

Western oil companies may not be allowed to make equity investments in the Middle Eastern upstream sector any time soon. Despite the flurry of speculation about the possibility of Western companies being allowed to take equity positions in low-cost oil reserves, their re-entry into the upstream sector looks somewhat unlikely given rising religious and economic tensions in Saudi Arabia and the growing complexity of geopolitics in the Gulf region.
The re-entry of Western oil companies into equity ownership of Middle Eastern oil reserves is frequently a topic of discussion in Western and Middle Eastern capitals, but the complexity of [...]