Mr. Khan: It's good question. Historically, integrated oil companies had to be involved in the entire vertical value chain. Today the impetus for the integrated structure is being called into question. In theory, some of the integrated oil companies are operating very distinct businesses that are not well integrated.
TWST: We have to start with the recent Gulf oil spill. What will it mean for the space longer term?
Mr. Khan: It probably means that the cost of drilling, completing and exploring for oil and gas in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico will get more expensive over time. I don't know what sort of regulations are going to be passed to deal with this catastrophe, but the level of scrutiny is going to be much higher than it was in the past. And with more regulation, generally comes more cost. That being said, as long as regulations are designed to improve human and environmental safety, then new regulations are probably all positive for the industry.
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