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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery lost $3.90 to $81.84 on the New York Merc, tumbling after the International Energy Agency cut its 2015 estimate of oil demand. Brent for November lost $3.85 to $85.04 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $12.55 to WTI ($69.29), up from a discount of $12.60. Natural gas for November lost 10 cents to $3.81. The TSX energy index lost 9.66 points to close at 250.83.

Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM) lost 69 cents to $7.47 on 9.47 million shares, despite rumours of an old flame rekindling its interest. The Sunday Times, a U.K. paper, reported over the weekend that French utility GDF Suez is mulling a bid for the company or its North Sea assets. The Paris-based conglomerate was previously reported by Reuters to have offered $17-billion (U.S.), including debt, for Talisman last year. Talisman's board reportedly rejected the "lowball" offer in early December, but GDF's chief executive officer, Gerard Mestrallet, denied it ever existed, telling a French press conference in January, "We made no offer for the company." (There were discussions about asset sales, Talisman's management told The Globe and Mail in February, but no formal bids.) Talisman's stock was around $13 in early December. Since then, the company has lost about $5.7-billion in market cap and lowered its net debt to $4.2-billion as of June 30, 2014, from $4.8-billion as of Dec. 31, 2013, so GDF apparently wants to take another run at it. The Sunday Times says bankers from Lazard are working on a deal for Talisman's entire business or some of its assets. Apparently, GDF is most interested in the North Sea assets, the very ones Talisman would most like to sell. It has been searching for a buyer for months, but the assets are undesirable because they carry expensive commitments to joint venturer Sinopec. GDF reportedly had a solution for that problem when it made its initial overtures last year: China's sovereign wealth firm, China Investment Corp., would have promised to finance future capital investments. It is not clear whether this arrangement is being considered now. It is also not clear what GDF would do with the rest of Talisman's assets, which are mainly in the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region, if it decides to make a full takeover offer. A possible solution there is Spain's Repsol. As news outlets reported over the summer, Repsol was interested in a takeover of Talisman, but dropped that plan in August after failing to find buyers for assets it did not want. It is reportedly still interested in Talisman's shale assets in the Texas Eagle Ford and the Alberta Duvernay. When media reports about Repsol began surfacing in July, Talisman issued a statement acknowledging that discussions about "various transactions" were in progress, sending its stock up to $11.97 from $10.57 on July 23. The company has yet to respond to the rumours about GDF. Spokesman Brent Anderson declined to comment to Stockwatch.

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