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 December delivery lost $2.29 to $80.52 on the New York Merc, while Brent for December lost $1.51 to $84.71 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $15.40 to WTI ($65.12), down from a discount of $15.35. Natural gas for November lost 5.2 cents to $3.65. The TSX energy index lost 8.80 points to close at 258.69.

Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM) lost 34 cents to $7.38 on 12.3 million shares. London-listed Amerisur Resources has formed a 50-50 joint venture with the company to explore the PUT-30 heavy oil block, which covers over 38,500 hectares in Colombia's Putumayo basin. Talisman won this block in the 2014 bid round. The gross work commitment is $26.9-million during the first three-year exploration phase, which will include 209 kilometres of 2-D seismic and the drilling of one exploration well. Amerisur sounds like it wants to move faster than that. "[We] look forward to a rapid and efficient exploration and evaluation program," its chief executive officer said in a statement. Talisman's main block in Colombia is Equion, which contributed the bulk of second quarter Colombian production of 20,500 barrels of oil equivalent a day. (Total corporate production was 375,000 barrels a day; most of that came from North America and Southeast Asia.) Equion provides cash flow to develop blocks CPO-9 and CPE-6. Talisman is particularly excited about CPO-9, a joint venture with Ecopetrol SA (ECP: $33.16), for two reasons. One, the block's Akacias field is already a producer, contributing a few thousand net barrels a day. This is expected to rise to 20,000 net barrels a day in 2018. Two, the joint venturers have yet to find the oil-water contact. (This is the boundary between the desirable oil and the undesirable water below.) Every well has expanded the known extent of the mobile oil. Elsewhere in the world, Talisman is trying to unload $2-billion of assets over the next 12 to 18 months to reduce its net debt, which was $4.2-billion as of June 30. It set the "12 to 18 months" target in February, but repeats it in every update, extending the deadline in a difficult selling environment.

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