The heat map shown in Fig. 1 was produced by Verisk Maplecroft’s Global Risk Calculator (GRC). It is customized and reflects the risk appetite of a particular oil and gas client and encompasses indices across three areas—governance, political violence, and business and macroeconomic risk. Similar maps are available to depict a total of 200 indices across 198 countries. A high correlation between the presence of hydrocarbon resources and political volatility results in high above-ground risk.