Reuters: Sinopec pays $1.5 billion for Talisman North Sea stake

Talisman Energy Inc said on Monday that Sinopec Corp, China's top refiner, had agreed to buy a 49 percent stake in its North Sea operations for $1.5 billion as the Canadian company looks to strengthen a balance sheet battered by weak natural gas prices.

Talisman, Canada's No. 6 oil and gas exploration company, will form a joint venture with Sinopec to operate the assets, which produced 63,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first quarter of 2012.  MORE