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Talisman Energy Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer, Hal Kvisle is photographed on Thursday, April 11, 2013.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail

The buzz about a breakup or sale of Talisman Energy Inc. appears to be gaining in volume again.

It started two CEOs ago, when analysts and investors griped that investments in too many countries were holding back the Calgary-based oil and gas producer's stock. In the ensuing six years or so, Talisman struggled to convince the market that it is honing its focus despite changes to its strategy.

Now, a year after oil patch veteran Hal Kvisle took the helm, the company is taking a cleaver to its international portfolio. It has up to $3-billion (U.S.) of assets on the block, including Western Canadian shale gas properties, its stake in a South American pipeline, Norwegian North Sea holdings and interests in exploration blocks in Kurdistan.

Mr. Kvisle has said his aim is to concentrate on just a few regions that offer high returns, such as the Eagle Ford in Texas and offshore fields in Southeast Asia. Earlier this year he had essentially ruled out a corporate split, but in a report on Tuesday, RBC Capital Markets analyst Greg Pardy said he appeared to be softening on the idea during discussions at a recent dinner with institutional investors. That does not suggest such a move would be easy, however.

"The tricky part of the equation reflects Talisman's view that neither a North American nor an Asian entity could support its North Sea operations individually. Accordingly, Talisman remains focused on cleaning up its North Sea portfolio," Mr. Pardy wrote.

That involves two parts: the sale of the Norwegian business, which could be completed this year, and a jettisoning of U.K. North Sea interests, a process that is complicated by the company's joint venture with China's Sinopec. Mr. Pardy pointed out that the agreement prevents Talisman selling its interest before 2 016 without Sinopec's say-so.

What's still needed is a "radical realignment" of Talisman's diversified structure, Mr. Pardy wrote.

Despite Mr. Kvisle's moves to put Talisman on a more profitable footing, which have also included some job cuts, the shares are 16 per cent below where they were 12 months ago. They were down 5 cents at $11.28 in Toronto on Tuesday.

Following CNOOC Ltd.'s $15.1-billion (U.S.) bid for Nexen Inc. last year, Talisman was most often mentioned as the next target, possibly for another Asian state-owned enterprise. However, the acquisition business for Canadian energy companies has dried up since then, partly on uncertainty that accompanied Ottawa's new rules that put limits on some takeovers by SOEs.

Talisman could still get picked off, possibly by one of the oil majors, some industry sources have speculated.

Phil Skolnick, analyst at Canaccord Genuity, has published a series of notes this year that suggest a sale is a likely outcome of Talisman's repositioning.

After the company released its second-quarter results, Mr. Skolnick said its opening of data rooms for asset dispositions around the world amounted to putting itself up for sale.

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