You might have thought in this price environment [$60-a-barrel oil] that you might have got a bonus, but Ecuador is a difficult political and economic regime for the oil industry.

For Petro-Canada, it’s a great price relative to the return they’re earning, and they’re not exiting the country. They’re only exiting that contract, that asset.

I think this signals the looming departure of John Lau.

There’s a bit of a mentality in the industry that if you don’t have the land, then you’re short of luck.

I think the big picture restructuring is probably complete. But they could be opening the door to doing something larger on the acquisition side.

The name never came up. It’s bizarre…Is Shell going to compete with itself, or is this a way of not diluting its interest (with other investors)?

It was disappointing, especially given that we are in such a rich market for oil and (refined) products. But on the other hand, if these issues are going to hit you, better that it happen...

Ecuador is a tough economic jurisdiction. There has been recurring issues regarding taxation and government take.

And as we know, the Indians and the Chinese are buying assets everywhere in the world.

Given that it’s the deepest well ever drilled, you might describe it as a new frontier, except the frontier isn’t farther out geographically; it’s farther down toward the core of the earth.