In the end, the choice was simple.
James Cummings could stay in Kuwait and continue to put himself, his wife Ana and their infant son Lachlan at risk. Or he could bring them home.
“I was checking my car for bombs every day because of reports from Saudi Arabia that ex-pats were going to be attacked,” said Cummings, 29.
He resigned as a lawyer with Kuwait’s foreign oil company and returned to Calgary in December. As the U.S. prepares for war with Iraq, he predicts other married overseas oil industry personnel will flee the Middle East.
He said his family’s departure, after a year in Kuwait, served as a wake-up call to ex-pats who live with, but don’t talk about, the dangers they constantly face in the anti-western climate.
Cummings also said that life has changed forever for ex-pats living and working in the Middle East. He predicts they’ll no longer be able to live among the locals and will instead have to be housed in fenced compounds.
But there will never be a shortage of Canadian oilpatch personnel – mostly Calgarians and other Albertans – who are willing to work there or in other dangerous locales.
“The danger becomes a badge of honour for them,” said Cummings. “It’s almost a game to see who can stay in the shittiest place the longest.”
Most go overseas for the career and personal experiences, while many go for the money.
