Talisman Energy Inc. Q1 2009 Earnings Call Transcript

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2009-04-30 16:15:28.0

Tags: Call Transcript, U.K., Earnings, Vietnam, Mergers & Acquisitions, Pricing, Corporate Law, Marketing Research, Investment, Finance, Marketing, Business Operations, Seeking Alpha

Question-and-Answer Session

Operator

Thank you. (Operator Instructions) Your first question today comes from Mark Polak of Scotia Capital. Please go ahead.

Mark Polak – Scotia Capital

Good morning, guys. Question for you with BP relinquishing their interest in a couple of blocks in Vietnam, does that create any opportunities for you or do you see yourselves preferring to stay oil focused in Vietnam given the gas prices there?

John A. Manzoni

Thank you Mark. Maybe I'll ask Paul to offer some comments on our activities in Vietnam.

Paul A. Blakeley

Sure. Thanks John. So, we certainly find the Nam Con Son Basin attractive, we concluded as John commented on a farm-in agreement on a couple of exploration blocks in that basin, it is gas prone basin, but we see strong market growth for gas domestically in Vietnam and so we are pretty keen to see if we can perceive business and grow on that existing farm-in deal. But any further specifics on where or how we might grow, I think it's really too early to say.

Unidentified Company Representative

Comments on prices Paul, the direction of gas pricing in the Vietnam needs market may be.

Paul A. Blakeley

Sure. So, pricing we see moving relatively strongly in the whole of the Asian region particularly on the back of domestic growth in most countries and Vietnam is no exception to that. And with the competition largely being coal for growth in primary energy demand, we think gas is well positioned and certainly the farm-in licenses that we acquired late last year do contain some significant sized un-drilled structures. So, we think that will come together very nicely.

John A. Manzoni

Thank you Paul. Mark I think that answers your question.

Mark Polak – Scotia Capital

That’s great.

Operator

(Operator Instructions) Mr. Mark Polak please go ahead.

Mark Polak – Scotia Capital

Thank you. Sorry, just one more if I could, oil prices have recovered somewhat since you pulled the U.K. assets off the block and just wondering if you might reconsider shopping those around again if there would be more interest now and on the flip side of that obviously a lot of cash coming in, from dispositions in Q2 and to be curious any thoughts on timing or areas or what you might be thinking for a potential acquisition?

Unidentified Company Representative

Mark, let me deal with your question on the U.K. first. I think I said before and we’ve said that our strategic intensity in U.K. hasn't change. Underlying our original positioning of the U.K. was that we can't rely on using such a mature basin to grow a company to the scale of Talisman and so therefore we need to create a sustainable base of production which of course is an awful lot of work and there is a lot of activities and projects and investment goes on to create that sustainable base. But nonetheless we position that as a sustainable base in our portfolio. That intent hasn't changed. We said in May that it would be somewhere between 80,000 and 100,000 barrels a day and indeed as we move forward we haven’t made those sales to get it to that level of sustainable base, simply because the market hasn't been there. Our intent hasn't changed and at the right time we will come back to take the actions that will position the U.K. as a sustainable source of cash flow, for the long-term to underpin the company. So, I think that hasn't changed at all. With regard to your second question, which is, do we have any ideas on what we might do in a portfolio sense in terms of acquisition, I think the answer to the question is that whatever we do will be consistent with our strategy, and will act to strengthen the portfolio in those areas of our business, which we look to grow in the medium and the longer term. There is nothing specific on the radar today, but as we’ve said consistently we believe that opportunities probably will arise and there are some opportunities in the market today and we will be assessing those as we go forward to take the actions that we believe to be appropriate at that time.

 

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