Talisman may not be finished with asset buys yet
(In U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted)
CALGARY, Alberta, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Talisman Energy Inc (TLM.TO), which has already made two acquisitions this year, could be making more in the coming months as Canada's No. 3 independent oil explorer hones its operations, analysts said on Monday.
Deals are expected to be aimed mostly at bolstering the company's three main operating regions, North America, the North Sea and Southeast Asia.
But new Chief Executive John Manzoni has said Talisman may be interested in building up its business in South America and North Africa, even as the company examines its assets to see which offer the best returns.
The Calgary-based company is paying China's CNOOC Ltd (0883.HK) $212.5 million for a 3-percent stake in the Tangguh liquefied natural gas project in Indonesia.
The transaction follows Talisman's C$94 million ($94 million) bid early this month for northwestern Alberta gas producer RSX Energy Inc RSX.V
"Those are pretty tiny acquisitions for a company its size," Salman Partners analyst Kyle Preston said. "I think that if they see an opportunity to make a strategic addition to their assets for a hundred million bucks, they can easily swallow that."
Manzoni said earlier this month the company would cut overall capital spending in 2008 by 6 percent to C$4.4 billion after missing some production targets in recent quarters.
It also launched an evaluation of its worldwide assets and Manzoni has said he would tell investors in the second quarter which properties would yield the best long-term results.
The Tangguh LNG project settles a long-running legal dispute between Talisman and CNOOC, dating back before the Canadian firm took over Paladin Resources in 2005.
The project, in West Papua, Indonesia, comprises a number of offshore gas wells, production facilities, pipelines and an LNG plant with a capacity of 7.6 million tons per year.
The first output is expected later this year.
Manzoni said in a statement he hoped to develop Talisman's business in the region and build its relationship with CNOOC.
Andrew Potter, analyst at UBS Securities, said in a note to clients he would not be surprised to see Talisman bulk up with more deals in Southeast Asia or North Africa as well as to enter into unconventional natural gas or oil sands.
The company's shares were off 13 Canadian cents at C$16.31 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, representing an 11 percent drop so far this year.
($1=$1 Canadian) (Reporting by Jeffrey Jones; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
