Tunisian state eyes a bigger role to boost hydrocarbons as IOCs depart

Etap wants to play a more prominent role in oil and gas developments, but the national company lacks the financial resources to drive a major exploration and production drive, in the once buoyant, if relatively small upstream industry, where majors want out and even the minnows who long made the running are in much reduced numbers. Europe is anxious to tap North African resources, but Etap is operating in a depressed market where IOCs are finding it hard to divest to buyers with a greater appetite for Tunisian risk, write James Gavin and Jon Marks.