This item is part of Stockwatch's value added news feed and is only available to Stockwatch subscribers.

Here is a sample of this item:

by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery added 67 cents to $98.44 on the New York Merc, while Brent for August added 55 cents to $106.62 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $13.53 to WTI ($84.91), down from a discount of $13.48. Natural gas for July added three cents to $3.90. The TSX energy index added 2.96 points to close at 250.20.

Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM), one of the heaviest traders on the TSX, added 21 cents to $12.05 on 2.05 million shares. The high volume did not come from any news, but rather from rumours the company is seeking to sell its shale assets in the Eagle Ford basin of south Texas. Two anonymous sources "familiar with the matter" told Reuters the company is working with Royal Bank of Canada and has approached a few potential buyers, including private equity, to gauge interest. The sources said the purchase price could reach up to $2-billion. Talisman is trying to reduce the sprawl of its global operations -- it sold a 49-per-cent interest in some North Sea operations to Sinopec for $1.5-billion in December, and exited Poland in May -- but Asia and the Americas are seen as core areas, so an Eagle Ford asset sale would come as a surprise. Talisman owns about 74,000 acres in this play and produced 21,000 net barrels of oil equivalent a day there in the first quarter. This is the second time in the last few weeks Talisman has risen on asset sale speculation. On May 30, the company added 18 cents to $12.35 after chief executive officer Hal Kvisle told a conference in New York that Talisman might sell more North Sea assets to Sinopec. He said he wanted to focus specifically on Asia and North America -- they have "a lot of synergies," he told attendees -- but then added that Talisman has seen "great interest" in its North Duvernay shale assets in Alberta. This would seem to indicate that North American asset sales are under consideration as well. Whether that consideration extends to the Eagle Ford, Talisman would not say; neither it nor Royal Bank would comment to Reuters on today's speculation.

The remainder is available to Stockwatch subscribers.
Sign-up for a FREE 30-day Stockwatch subscription and SEE NO ADS