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

To: Sylvia Dupuis who wrote (908)	5/30/2000 7:20:00 PM
From: Tomas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1713

"I've never seen a company put under the microscope like this. There just seems to be a laser beam of attention on Sudan when there are atrocities going on all over the world", Martin Molyneaux said. He predicts Talisman could rise to C$65 a share. Talisman Union Holder Votes to Sell Stake in Company (Update1) By Reg Curren Calgary, Alberta, May 30 (Bloomberg) -- Ontario's teachers union recommended that its pension fund sell its C$190 million ($126 million) stake in Talisman Energy Inc. because the oil company refuses to stop doing business in war-torn Sudan. The decision was made through leadership vote of the 144,000- member Ontario Teachers Federation, and adds to pressure on the C$68.3 billion fund to get rid of the holding. While the union can't require the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board to sell the shares, it controls four of the fund's nine board seats. Talisman, one of Canada's largest petroleum producers, has been criticized by human-rights groups since it took a 25 percent interest in an oil project with the Sudanese government and the national oil companies of China and Malaysia. Critics contend money from the oil venture has helped finance a civil war by Khartoum's Islamic government against Christian and other minority groups in southern Sudan. ``To our executive they (Talisman) haven't been seen as going far enough on working on the problems and the issues,'' union President Barbara Sargent said in an interview. ``For our members we could no longer sit by and be part of what was going on without having more effect on what was happening in the country.'' Talisman officials weren't immediately available to comment. Shares of Talisman fell C$0.35 to C$50.05 in Toronto trading. The pension fund's board isn't under any obligation to sell its Talisman stake -- which some analysts think could rise another 30 percent given continuing high world crude oil prices of $30 a barrel. ``It's our responsibility to get the best return possible,'' said pension fund spokeswoman Lee Fullerton. ``Ethical screening is not part of our mandate at this time.'' The fund will consider the issue at a June 11 meeting in Toronto, Fullerton said. Martin Molyneaux, analyst at First Energy Capital Corp. in Calgary, said he's surprised the teachers made the request given Talisman's recent moves to address the concerns. ``I've never seen a company put under the microscope like this. There just seems to be a laser beam of attention on Sudan when there are atrocities going on all over the world,'' he said. He predicts Talisman could rise to C$65 a share. Talisman spokeswoman Jacqueline Sheppard said the company has taken steps to address critics' concerns, including calling for the appointment of an independent human-rights monitor in the country, she said. Talisman has continually analyzed whether the Sudan controversy has depressed its share value, but Sheppard said it is difficult to quantify the amount. Earlier this year, a Canadian government probe concluded that the Sudan government was using oil revenue to fund its war but Ottawa declined to impose sanctions on Talisman.