Globe says Manzoni takes the Buckee out of Talisman
2008-12-15 06:57 ET - In the News
The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that Talisman Energy today is not Jim Buckee's Talisman. The Globe's Norval Scott quotes John Manzoni, the former BP PLC executive who took the helm in September, 2007, as saying: "There is quite a lot of change in how we run the company. My style is quite different from Jim's."
For 15 years, Talisman was synonymous with Mr. Buckee, an occasionally brilliant and always controversial astrophysicist who took the company to the far corners of the planet, fought publicly with social activists and ran the head office as his personal domain. Under Mr. Manzoni, who has set out to remake Talisman, the company is more inclusive. Talisman still operates in 16 countries, and recently expanded into Iraqi Kurdistan. Mr. Manzoni has his eye on Canada.
He spent his first year in Calgary drafting a strategy to focus on long-term unconventional gas prospects in North America. Now, he must show some results for shareholders. "The old strategy had, in some senses, run its course," said Mr. Manzoni. "One's got to be slightly cautious about following a fad, but it's more than a fad. The risk-return receipts off unconventional [gas resources] are actually very compelling."
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