See there is more uncertainty around the new hydrocarbons law again. So I did a quick bit of research (a.k.a. googling) and found this:
Although the parties to the sixth-round contracts
apparently intended (and expected) that the Old Law would
govern their contracts, it could well be that actually the New Law
would govern them. The argument runs like this: under the New
Law (Article 101) petroleum contracts (and related addenda)
concluded before the date of publication of the New Law (i.e. 19
July 2005) remain in force until their expiration.
This is pretty much what we want to hear, as PCI had the Algerian license fully ratified on 1/6/05, so would not be affected by the new laws, but does this apply to some previous 'new hydrocarbon law' or the one we're worried about now?