Now that Total has terminated its hostile bid for UTS, what are the future plans for UTS?

First, UTS is continuing to actively pursue all our options to maximize value for shareholders. Second, we will continue to operate our business in order to deliver on the fundamental value of our diverse portfolio of assets. We are financially healthy, with enough cash and remaining earnings to last until at least the first half of 2011 as UTS' funding is secured for our share of the next $5 billion of investment in the Fort Hills Project.

In the near term, we are going to complete the shareholder value maximization process by continuing the conversations that are currently underway. The Special Committee of the UTS Board of Directors is working closely with our financial advisors on this. There is no specific, firm timeline for this process and we cannot go into details about the discussions at this time.

The strategic alternatives that could be considered include:

• disposition of the Fort Hills project, including its associated earnings;
• sell or farm down other assets;
• sell the entire company; and
• enter into an acquisition or merger

Also in the near term, we expect to see the completion of the merger between Suncor and Petro-Canada, one of our Fort Hills partners.

In the mid-term, we will be working on continuing to delineate our resources in our other areas, eventually leading to the build out of these significant projects in the long term.

How will the proposed merger between Petro-Canada and Suncor potentially impact the Fort Hills project?

If the merger goes through, the Fort Hills project will benefit from having one of the oil sands industry’s leading, most experienced operators at its disposal. The merger could result in a project with materially lower capital and operating costs and improved economics through the use of Suncor’s tried and tested designs. We believe there are opportunities to benefit from the synergies associated with integrating the Fort Hills project with Suncor’s other assets.

We expect that, if the merger proceeds, it will close in the third or fourth quarter of 2009. We don’t expect to have a revised Fort Hills project plan defined for the partnership until the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010.

Suncor has talked about re-prioritizing projects based on near-term cash flow after the Petro-Canada merger. What will happen to the Fort Hills project if Suncor decides not to proceed with it right away?

We believe Fort Hills is a quality asset and that Suncor will consider it to be a very attractive near-term opportunity. We will work with the partnership as best we can to develop a solution that meets the expectations of all the players.