Invest in Uncle's Oil Company?

duffduffxx said: "Right now I have about $80,000 sitting in a stock porfolio- its doing ok, has gone up just a little with the slow economic year. My uncle is the CEO of small oil company that is about to go public. He said they are looking for investors to give around 50-100k. He wasn’t trying to solicit me because he doesn’t even know I have this money. The company is about to go public soon, and I am wondering if it would be smart to invest in it before they do go public. My uncle has been working his ass off for his company, and it seems like it could get big for a number of reasons. The first is that it is in a stable and developed country that, before my uncle started operations there, had untapped oil and natural gas fields. Because no one was drilling there, they offered subsidies to any company that would drill there. They also tax very little of their profits, and have paid for a pipeline to the nearest port there. I know transportation wise there will be less demand for oil in the future, but as far as everything else it will still be needed. What do you guys think?"