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Gold/Mining/Energy : Canadian Oil & Gas Companies -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cogito Ergo Sum who wrote (9479)	1/22/2003 1:00:06 PM
From: LARRY LARSON	Respond to of 24937

Sale of Sudanese Oil Assets Still on Track By Dina O'Meara CALGARY (Dow Jones) - Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM), said Tuesday the US$728 million sale of its Sudanese oil assets to India remains on track to close by month end, and in its original form. Investors have speculated the deal to sell Talisman's 25% stake in the Greater Nile Oil project could fall through or be altered after the original Dec. 31, 2002, closing was delayed on infighting between consortium partners. Malaysia, with a 30% interest in the 250,000-barrel-a-day project, was reported to be wielding its right of first refusal against the sale to India's state oil company ONGC in order to increase its own stake. However, the Sudanese government sanctioned the deal last week, Talisman said. "We expect the deal to close by the end of the month, that ONGC will be the buyer and that the price will be as announced," spokesman Barry Nelson said, from Calgary. According to a report by investment bankers Lehman Brothers Tuesday, India signed the Talisman deal knowing it could face taking a partial stake if Malaysia exercised its right. Majority stakeholder China is restricted to its 40% interest as a foreign investor under Sudanese law. The partners would also have to prove India wasn't financially capable of funding its share of operating and capital costs for the project to further block the sale, Lehman Brothers said. "While this could be a risk, we would expect Talisman to have prudently made such an analysis before coming to an agreement with ONGC," Lehman Brothers analyst Thomas Driscoll said in the report. The analyst saw "limited downside" to Talisman's stock value if the Sudan sale didn't close on Jan. 31 as the stock didn't rebound after the sale itself was announced in October. Copyright (c) 2003, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.