I began my above-ground risk journey more than 20 years ago while offering political risk insurance to US companies (including those in the oil and gas sector) investing in emerging markets. Later, I served as an advisor to the government of Kazakhstan on large-scale oil and gas transactions that involved considerable above-ground risk implications for all parties. I subsequently spent my time at Texaco/Chevron running fiscal models for new upstream oil/gas opportunities and designing an above-ground risk management system for international business units. Through these combined commercial and above-ground risk roles, and in my current capacity as an adviser on environmental and social issues, I have observed some common patterns associated with the relationship between above-ground risk and project planning.