"Uncertified rig and visa delay...16 May 2018 19:29
seem fishy".
Hamm: Clearly we PMs tend to see issues which if you would mention them to the exec. mgmt they would probably answer: "We are aware of the relevant political, commercial, regulatory and whatever else issues which have or may have an impact on our operations but please let us do our job".
Assuming that Sinopec is NOT the extended arm of some kind of conspirational group of Chinese companies and is consequently subject to commercial competition (e.g. CNPC, Sinochem Group, Yanchang Petroleum etc.) it wouldn't make sense for them to intentionally or even fraudulently fail on their contractual obligations as this would ultimately be known to the market and therefore detrimental to their reputation and commercial interests.
I appreciate that when doing business with the Chinese you need to have both eyes open. However, I can't imagine that a guy with Mike Buck's longstanding experience would fall for any of their tricks.
From my POV it is highly unlikely that the Chinese will get their foot in the Mongolian "oil door" by applying high level trickery.