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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery added 54 cents to $77.94 on the New York Merc, while Brent for December lost 67 cents to $81.67 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $16.15 to WTI ($61.79), up from a discount of $16.90. Natural gas for December lost 0.8 cent to $4.24. The TSX energy index added 1.80 points to close at 261.05.

Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM) lost six cents to $6.58 on 3.69 million shares, after arranging an Indonesian farm-in with Pan Orient Energy Corp. (POE), up nine cents to $1.96 on 642,100 shares. Talisman will acquire a 51-per-cent interest in Pan Orient's East Jabung project and become operator. The deal comes less than a week after Pan Orient jumped 28 cents to $1.84 after agreeing to sell half of its Thai division to a Bangkok-based company. It said at the time that it was in the final stages of arranging farm-ins for two of its Indonesian assets, East Jabung and Batu Gajah, and hoped to conclude negotiations this month. At East Jabung, it has kept its word -- and not a moment too soon. Pan Orient signed a three-year exploration commitment for East Jabung on Nov. 21, 2011, promising to drill two wells and complete a 2-D seismic program. The company completed 440 kilometres of seismic earlier this year, but has not drilled either of the wells, the deadline for which is next week. To be fair, Pan Orient would not likely have got into trouble over this -- it already applied for a one-year extension, and the Indonesian government has granted those on the company's other projects -- but the deal with Talisman is still very welcome. Not only will it provide extra time for drilling, but the larger company will also carry the smaller one for most of the well costs.

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