My favourite perspective is the one that asserts that the majors are not as concerned with the present market flux as many others may be. It is certainly nothing to take lightly, but the larger picture is that the rare Noront find will only be more increasingly desireable what ever the markets do, short of complete armageddon. They cannot afford to let it slip by, knowing that when the financial storm abates they would have missed a huge opportunity. To the latter point they will deal as much with an eye to the future as the present.