by the japanese delegation at davos. for example, from asia, it is the south koreans and chinese dominating even though there s not a lot chinese government delegations but i would put it in another category right now, that is, this financial repression discussion within the g-7 of a long period of sluggish growth that lost decade we have talked about in japan over the last ten years likely to continue with the debt levels we see both in the u.s. and europe. well, here in davos, i have been able to pry peter vosser away to talk about the direction of the energy and oil sector. he is the chief executive officer of royal dutch shell. i started by asking him something that s a big conversation in the halls of davos this year, the so-called new normal with prices around $90 a barrel. there will be a lot of supply coming on next few years. we have still opec production shut in but on the other side, you are right.
right now they are partners. when will they nudge you out because they have their own cash? they re competitors today. that s fine. we are used to competing in the market so through our technology, innovation, our brand we can compete but we have more than 20 of those partnerships already. some very international partnerships, as well. an enthis has been part of the business model for last 20 years so i think it is what it is and we ll just deal with it. peter voser there, the boss of shell. and one wonders, actually, how long it will be before the ripples from tunisia and now egypt affect the oil company s operations in the far east. when s the buzz if you like on egypt? does davos think that mubarak is on his way out, john? well, i tell you, it s on a knife edge, charles, to be candid. one thing we didn t talk about with the protests down there, this government is very