Talisman Energy Trades Up After Hours; Repsol Reportedly Mulls Bid

jumped nearly 12 percent in after-hours action on a report that Spain's Repsol SA is mulling a bid for the Canada-based energy company. Citing "people familiar with the matter," Bloomberg news service said Repsol is working with JPMorgan Chase & Co. to evaluate a possible offer. Repsol said recently it will it spend up to $10 billion on acquisitions in developed markets like the U.S., Canada or northern Europe. Repsol is flush with cash, receiving $5 billion earlier this year from the Argentine government as payment for nationalizing Repsol's 51 percent stake in Argentina's YPF SA in 1999 and a further $1.3 billion from the sale of its then-remaining 12 percent stake. In May, Talisman Chief Executive Hal Kvisle told the Toronto Globe & Mail that the company would only consider "an aggressive” bid. “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. Talisman production in the recent quarter equaled 142,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Talisman traded recently after hours at $10.99, up 11.57 percent.