Calgary, Alberta--based Talisman Energy is facing a public-relations nightmare and an ethical dilemma concerning its investment in the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC), a joint venture operating in Sudan. Talisman's 25 percent interest in GNPOC is profitable and stands to become more so, as Sudan's vast oil reserves are tapped. However, religious and secular human-rights activists have attacked Talisman's involvement in Sudan as promoting abuses, including forced displacement and slavery, through its indirect financial support of the Sudanese government in its civil war with southern rebels. Talisman argues in favor of a policy of constructive engagement in Sudan. The U.S. government is moving closer to placing sanctions on Talisman that would prevent the firm from raising capital in U.S. capital markets. Talisman executives must decide whether this profitable investment should be kept or whether the ethical and/or public relations problems make the investment too problematic.