Spain’s Repsol to buy Canada’s Talisman for $8.3 billion

Spanish oil firm Repsol said Tuesday it has agreed to buy its struggling Canadian rival Talisman for $8.3 billion (6.6 billion euros), a deal that extends its global reach two years after it was forced out of Argentina. The operation will boost Repsol’s output by 76 percent to 680,000 barrels of oil equivalent while its reserves will increase by 55 percent to 2,353 billion barrels of oil equivalent, the company said. “The combined company will be among the 15 largest privately-owned oil and gas companies in the world, present in key areas and with the most potential worldwide,” Repsol said in a statement. If the transaction is completed, Repsol — which became a medium-sized player when Argentina nationalised its subsidiary YPF in 2012 — will have more than 27,000 employees in 50 countries.