evaluation. But, but maybe Dan specifically, uh, would it be possible for you to just frame what the mechanics are? Like, I've never worked through one of these, uh, from that standpoint. And, and is it possible just to, again, enlighten us in terms of black ore. It's like, I'm not trying to pin you down on a date per se, because you're sorta saying within the June timeframe, but I just, I think I'd love to know what, what needs to go into this in terms of formalizing your decision process. Yeah. I mean, technically, the technicalities o- o- of an SIV, I mean, it requires a filing, it's, it's open for 35 days. Generally speaking, y- y- you shouldn't do it duri- during a blackout period, which, which is typically sort of 30 days before your earnings release, y- you know, ballpark is on the blackout periods are. So that, that's, that's sort of the, um, the, the timing and technicalities of it. Okay. Thanks very much. Thanks, Greg. Thank you. Our next question comes from Neil Mehta with Goldman Sachs. You may proceed with your question. Thanks so much. Uh, Brad, and one of the core competencies that you've had, and you brought into the business is, is your background around M&A given, uh, your prior role at, at Exxon. And just to be curious on your own perspective of, of give you Imperial as a logical consolidator, especially in light of the deferred tax, uh, position and, and, uh, your success of turning around operations and, and, uh, and scale and cost of capital. And it, uh, and if so, how do you think about balancing that versus return of capital? So big picture question, but any thoughts would be, uh, appreciated. Yeah. Thanks, Neil. And, and good to hear from you. Um, you know, as we've said in the past, um, we continue to keep an open mind, an open aperture around potential, uh, M&A opportunities. Um, it's, it's not our top priority. Our top priority, uh, centers around our existing asset base, um, and maximizing value from those assets, which I, I think we, we have demonstrated, uh, success over, over the last couple years. And, and has us well positioned for the future with, you know, some very long life assets that, um, you know, under, under favorable markets will continue to generate significant cash. And, uh, so when we look at potential M&A opportunities, we, we need to convince ourself that not only do they fit into a long term strategy, but, but they are a creative. And, and they do compete for capital relative to, um, you know, the, the, the brownfield investments that, that we already have identified and, and are progressing. Um, you know, we're, we're not, uh, driven to acquire something just to grow for the sake of growing. In fact, you know, I think we've demonstrated our ability to grow with the existing asset base. Um, y- you know, take Kearl for example. Um, you know, it was just, just a couple years ago that, that we were at, or below 200,000 barrels a day. And so, you know, now this year, we are at 263, we expect to grow that to 265 to 270. And, and within a relatively short timeframe, you know, I expect we'll be at, at 280 or, or higher. And so in a few short years, we, we will have added 80,000 barrels a day of growth in our portfolio at a cost much, much lower than, you know, any acquisition we, we could have contemplated. So that will continue to be the, the priority as, you know, making sure we first focus on our existing assets. But, you know, there is a lot of consolidation occurring and, uh, and, you know, we, we wanna make sure we are making thoughtful decisions. And so, you know, we, we look at, uh, potential acquisitions and evaluate them, and we discuss them as a management team. And, um, and, and, you know, that guides us accordingly. Um, so, so hope that answered your question. Uh, that is a helpful framework, Brad. And the follow up is just around cash taxes. Can you just remind us, uh, team how you, how you're thinking about your deferred tax position? But good problem to have, to have a lot of earnings per share. Um, but I would imagine that would also, uh, take, create some considerations that we need to, uh, embed in the model going forward. Yeah, a- absolutely. Dan and his team spend a lot of time thinking about that. And so I'll, I'll ask him to answer. Yeah, well, uh, you know, just for the record, we're against cash taxes, um, if you didn't know our position. But, <laugh> uh, we, you know, we don't expect… Well, in 2021, uh, actual, actual cash taxes will be, you know, quite small. 2022 will be sort of a transition year. And by 2023, you know, a current, you know, with current, you know, economic conditions, we'd expect to be, to be fully tax paying. So, you know, I think that's probably as much as I, I can tell you. But, um, well, on a, on a pure cash basis out the door, um, we should pay, uh, less than the statutory rate in, in 2022. But by 2023, you know, we'll be full- fully tax paying on, on a cash basis. That's kinda where we are. Makes sense, Dan. Thank you. Thank you. Our next question comes from Mena Hosa with T. D. Security. You may proceed with your question. Uh, good morning, everyone. And, uh, thanks for, uh, squeezing me in. Uh, m- most of my questions have been answered, but maybe I'll just, uh, surround things out with cost inflation. We have a pretty good sense of what that could look like for upstream across the, the industry, but what are, what are you seeing in terms of cost pressures for downstream? And would you be able to provide, uh, separate ranges for the two? Yeah, thanks for the question. And, and no doubt that is a, uh, is, is an emerging theme, you know, a- across industry and, and, and more broadly, society right now with inflationary pressures from, from lots of angles. You know, I, I think, um, you know, fortunately, uh, for us, uh, we, we haven't seen huge impacts of, of inflationary pressures yet. Um, but that's not to say we, we won't going forward. You know, probably the single largest, uh, impact we've had i- i- is around our own energy costs. Um, you know, where, where we, we, we purchase natural gas, um, you know, for, for our facilities. Um, and, and obviously, you know, we all know what's happened there, but, you know, as, uh, as, as somebody who also produces, uh, energy, you know, unbalanced, that's, that's still favorable for us. Um, you know, we're, we're taking a close look at other consumable supplies and things like that. And, you know, first making sure we, we, we have access to the supplies and we're not impacted