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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery lost 70 cents to $100.97 on the New York Merc, while Brent for September added 15 cents to $107.72 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $22.90 to WTI ($78.07), up from a discount of $24. Natural gas for August added 6.1 cents to $3.80. The TSX energy index lost a fraction to close at 321.67.

Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM) added 21 cents to $11.93 on 4.79 million shares. The company lost 23 U.S. cents a share in the second quarter of 2014, compared with earnings of nine U.S. cents a share a year earlier. Analysts had predicted earnings of five U.S. cents a share. The decrease came mainly from losses on financial instruments. On an operating basis, Talisman lost about one U.S. cent per share, below analyst predictions of earnings of four U.S. cents a share. Although revenue and production were up, mainly because of higher North American liquids production, this was not enough to offset lower North American gas prices. The biggest production increases came from North America and Colombia. These are only some of many areas in which Talisman operates. Its wide-ranging asset mix began attracting extra attention last week after the company confirmed rumours that it has been approached by Spain's Repsol about "various transactions," which could presumably include a takeover or asset sales. Repsol has plenty of cash, thanks in part to a $5-billion settlement with Argentina in May, as compensation for the seizure of an Argentine subsidiary in the spring of 2012. It has previously said it may spend up to $10-billion on purchases. Because of its clash with Argentina, however, it also said that it wants to focus on countries that are members of the OECD, and many of Talisman's countries are not. Analysts who believe that a deal is coming tend to fall into one of two camps: Repsol will acquire just some of Talisman's assets, or it will acquire the whole company and sell off the assets it does not want. It is also possible that Repsol will just drop its OECD-only policy. In March, Bloomberg reported that the Spanish company had been thinking about buying Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. (PRE: $20.46) in Colombia, although it ultimately changed its mind.

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