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Gold/Mining/Energy : TLM.TSE Talisman Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Edward M. Zettlemoyer who wrote (684)	1/4/2000 10:17:00 AM
From: Tomas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1713

Sudan exports 15 mln oil barrels in four months - Reuters KHARTOUM, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Sudan has exported 15 million barrels of oil in the past four months, the government-owned al-Anbaa newspaper on Tuesday quoted director general at the Energy and Mining Ministry as saying. Hassan Eltom was quoted as saying that 15 million barrels of crude oil had been shipped abroad in 20 oil tankers, up to December 31. Sudan began to export crude oil in August from its 1,600-km (1,000-mile) 28-inch pipeline in southern Sudan to the Red Sea. The pipeline, with a capacity of 250,000 barrels per day (bpd), was built by the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company and a consortium including Canadian oil company Talisman (Toronto:TLM.TO - news) and the state oil firms of China, Malaysia and Sudan. Eltom is also quoted in al-Usbua newspaper as saying that one million tonnes of crude oil were refined at El-Obeid refinery, about 350 km (220 miles) southwest of Khartoum, in the second half of last year. He said demand for Sudan's crude oil is increasing and production had reached 150,000 bpd, with plans to raise production to 180,000 bpd. The Khartoum refinery, which is expected to produce 2.5 million tonnes of oil a year, is due to start production on an experimental basis next month, he said. Sudan, riven by civil war, was importing up to $360 million worth of oil annually before it began to exploit oil resources in 1997. In September, Khartoum accused Sudanese rebel forces, who have long contended that the Islamist government planned to use profits from oil exports to buy weapons and step up the 16-year old civil war, of causing an explosion that hit its new oil pipeline in southern Sudan. biz.yahoo.com

To: Edward M. Zettlemoyer who wrote (684)	1/7/2000 1:57:00 PM
From: Tomas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1713

Goldman Sachs' and FirstEnergy's top picks for 2000 include Talisman Sharply higher results should boost producer group - Flight to liquidity Financial Post, January 7 By Ian McKinnon Growing oil production and continuing strong prices are contributing to the best fundamentals in years. Analysts say sharply higher fourth-quarter 1999 and first-quarter 2000 results should inject some steadiness into the stumbling producers group. "I think the evidence just becomes overwhelming," said Greg Pardy, analyst with Goldman Sachs & Co. in New York. "The other thing favouring [oil stocks] is that we've seen New York Mercantile Exchange gas prices come under pressure and perhaps the focus in 2000 shifts a little away from natural gas and more towards heavy oil." His firm's top picks for 2000 include Anderson Exploration Ltd., Canadian Hunter Exploration Ltd., Penn West Petroleum Ltd., Rio Alto Exploration Ltd. and Talisman Energy Inc. Martin Molyneaux, director of research with FirstEnergy Capital Corp. in Calgary, expects a 30% to 40% increase this year in the producers' sub-group on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Worries about the sustainability of oil prices, notorious crashes such as Merit Energy Ltd. and competition for funds from high-tech stocks have dragged down the group in the past four to six months, he said. "There has been a fundamental downshift in multiples over the period and I do not believe the market is accurately reflecting the earnings potential nor the growth potential [of selected producers] at this time," he said. As a result of higher capital spending, many firms will crank up their daily production and show improved financial results even if oil prices slide, he said. FirstEnergy's list of recommended stocks is dominated by big players such as Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Talisman. Mr. Molyneaux said the flight to more liquid stocks, triggered in part by accounting and reserve problems at juniors and intermediates, will likely continue. While stock disasters garnered a lot of attention in 1999, the major energy story was the higher oil price. The rebound allowed stocks of oil-levered producers to regain some of their value. Shares of Baytex Energy Ltd. jumped nearly 130% between Jan. 1 and Dec. 29, while the stocks of CanOxy, Penn West, Genesis Exploration Ltd. and Vermilion Resources Ltd. all notched gains of more than 60% in the same period. Not everyone shared in the rally as investors dumped some stocks because of concerns about future growth, management or hedging strategies. Renaissance Energy Ltd. lost 12% of its value over the year, while Ranger Oil Ltd. was off 32% and Tri Link Resources Ltd. plunged 41%. Mr. Pardy of Goldman Sachs said there has been a capital strike as investors refused to pump money into players that did not at least return their cost of capital. "This is an industry that has typically generated less than a 10% after-tax rate of return," he said. "Investors are standing back and saying: 'Why am I going to supply capital to companies in this industry that are not generating real returns?' " The lack of equity will force consolidation as small companies, which are not being rewarded in the stock market for growing production, search for buyers to preserve shareholder value. Mr. Pardy said this trend favours larger firms with strong balance sheets. Investors in 1999 definitely liked the four big companies that have exploration and refining operations. Shares of Imperial Oil Ltd., Petro-Canada, Shell Canada Ltd. and Suncor Energy Inc. gained between 24% and 33%. The rise came despite tough times for their refining divisions because of intense marketing competition and higher feedstock costs. John Clarke, analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities Ltd. in Toronto, estimated refining earnings for the senior companies will fall by more than 50% this year compared with those in 1998, with return on capital employed suffering a similar fate and declining to 5.3%. "We are recommending a market weight on the integrated sector and currently see better near-term value in selecting stocks in the [exploration and production] segment of the Canadian oil industry," he wrote in a recent report. Within this small group of companies, Petro-Canada was Mr. Clarke's top pick. nationalpost.com