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It's an old CEO chestnut: assert that the company is not for sale, then add that anything can be acquired if the price is right.

Much less common is the boss who says there is no sales process under way, and then explains in fine detail why no one is stepping up with an offer.

Such is the way of Hal Kvisle, who has fielded questions about potential bids for Talisman Energy Inc. since jumping in as chief executive in 2012 to untangle a web of exploration and production assets spanning the globe.

With less than eight months to go before Mr. Kvisle finishes his tenure as executive repairman, he says that his job proved much tougher than he or the board figured. It has included selling billions of dollars of properties, cutting staff numbers and refocusing resources on the best assets in the Americas and Southeast Asia.

Even with the entrance of activist investor Carl Icahn last year, Talisman's stock price has been under pressure most of the time while its senior energy-producer peers such as Encana Corp. have staged a rebound along with natural gas prices. It appears Mr. Icahn, too, discovered the complexity of Talisman's problems. He agreed to work with Mr. Kvisle, and nominate two board members, rather than stir up trouble in a proxy battle.

Mr. Kvisle is candid about Talisman's biggest stumbling blocks – its North Sea assets, acquired through acquisitions in the 1990s and 2000s. Now, following years of operational headaches, missed production targets and then a sale of a 49-per-cent stake to China's Sinopec Corp., it wants out but can't extract itself easily.

It committed to spending $2.5-billion (U.S.) in the region through 2016, representing a big chunk of capital spending that could be pumped into the assets it likes. Mr. Kvisle calls it "intractable inertia."

In Norway, the Yme project has been a notorious snafu. Following hundreds of millions of dollars in investment and the lease of a production platform which proved to be a lemon that regulators would not certify, it is possible it will never yield a drop of commercial oil.

The struggles have prevented any kind of split along geographic lines, as has been suggested for years. It has also turned off potential suitors for Talisman. Even Mr. Kvisle, who is not looking for potential suitors, says so.

"We haven't actively pursued a sale of the company. I've been quite open with people that if anyone wants to come forward and wants to purchase the company, I'm not negative on that at all, as those things happen," he said after the annual meeting on Wednesday. "But I think the North Sea is a major factor for anyone looking at this company. Also that very diverse international exploration program."

On the latter, Talisman has jettisoned some exploration holdings, and it's currently looking for partners in others, such as those in Kurdistan, as a way to reduce exposure.

The more traditional for-sale, not-for-sale explanation holds for the company's holdings in the Eagle Ford shale of Texas, where it has a joint venture with Statoil ASA.

Mr. Kvisle brushes off as a rumour a recent report that the partners aim to sell the interests in the red-hot oil and gas-liquids region, where Encana scooped up assets on Wednesday in a $3.1-billion deal.

In Wednesday's first-quarter results that beat expectations in cash flow and output, Talisman reported Eagle Ford production had jumped 57 per cent in the past year while costs fell, impressive for a play where Talisman had initially struggled.

So why would Talisman sell it? Well it wouldn't, not with that kind of performance. That is, unless someone came forward with an "aggressive" bid, somewhere around the range per unit of production that Encana is paying for its new assets, Mr. Kvisle said.

"I can't tell you whether I'd sell for $58,500 a flowing barrel or not, but I'd say that kind of a number makes some sense in the grand range of things," he said.

That would add about $1-billion to the price estimated in the report that the assets were for sale.

Talisman stock jumped 8 per cent following the release of its financial results, hitting a level not seen since late January. It could be driven by the improving financial picture or the potential for sales – even assets not officially for sale.

As far as investors are concerned, either could end up being a positive outcome of Mr. Kvisle's tenure.

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