I agree with you Jim that this new deal for West Coast Management will result in them converting their preferred shares to 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 more common shares in the next two years which will have the effect of watering down the shares that we own even further as Canadian Superior Energy's share price increases in the future as it surely will. On the other hand this conversion will not lead to West Coast Management gaining control over Canadian Superior Energy, in my humble opinion. The recent Press Release on December 18, 2009 stated that Clay Riddell will end up with 38,38,461,538 common shares through his holding company Treherne Resources. There is no telling how many millions of other shares he holds in his other investment vehicles, as he stated in a recent article that he has owned Canadian Superior Energy common shares for a number of years.

The following article is very interesting because to me as it reveals Clay Riddell's "modus operendi" or the way that Clay Riddell operates his current business ventures.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/calgarybusiness/story.html?id=fc5f6e49-ce78-4434-8624-83d07c941c3d

The article states:

"The family also owns a good chunk of each company. And that's one of the reasons why they are not without some controversy.

"They are a public company in name only because they control all the voting shares," said one industry insider.

It's not unlike the criticism levelled at companies that persist in having dual class shares; these are often perceived as being publicly funded, yet private entities.

While Riddell bristles at that criticism, saying that he runs his business like a proprietor and that because he has a 50 per cent interest, his interests are aligned with the other half of the shareholder base, even if they can't influence the direction of the company.

"If you own the company, you get to call the shots . . . we have a board and I don't cheat the other shareholders," he says emphatically, calling the voting and non-voting structure "smoke and mirrors."

This quote shows that Clay Riddell controls the companies that he has investments in, so in this light I think that we are in good hands if his substantial holding in Canadian Superior Energy pans out the way I think it will in the future.

Best Wishes; Scott