Reuters runs the Talisman Energy story

Hey, this is totally cool. Reuters is today giving more airtime to the reports about Talisman (TLM.to) (TLM) in problems with Peruvian locals that I wrote about yesterday. Good to see a big news agency picking up on a socially-oriented story down in deepest darkest South America, and some good quotes from the company about how TLM is definitely not leaving Peru anytime soon (and a nice zinger about TLM in Sudan at the end, too). Methinks there's a conflict brewing.

Here's the whole thing. Enjoy.

(PS: Talisman Energy head office has visited this humble corner of cyberspace 18 times so far today....so maybe they're a tiny teeny eensy weensy bit more worried about this issue than they're letting on).

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LIMA, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Talisman Energy , Canada's No. 3 independent oil explorer, said on Wednesday it had no plans to pull out of Peru, after local media reports said community leaders had given the company an ultimatum to leave.

The Calgary-based group, which is looking for oil in Peru, has two lots in the northern Amazon jungle. Several indigenous groups live in the area, including the Achuar people, whose leader has said protesters will throw the company out if it does not stop work by Nov. 15.

"We are not planning on leaving Peru any time soon," David Mann, a Talisman official, said.

"My understanding is we have all the agreements and consents we require from communities in the areas where we're operating. There may be other groups that are outside our area of operation who are asking for something different."

Talisman's chief executive met with a small delegation of Achuar leaders in April and said the company would not operate without their consent.

Protesters say oil work harms the environment and sows seeds of conflict.

"We, as indigenous people, reject the Canadian company Talisman. We do not want them working in our territory. We want the Peruvian state to respect us, and the armed forces to stop helping the company," Cesar Zuniga, president of the Achuar indigenous group FENAP, said on local radio.

Talisman, which operates in some 20 countries, was criticized by human rights groups for its activities in Sudan in the late 1990s and earlier this decade. Conflict over oil exacerbated Sudan's civil war, which lasted from 1983 to 2005.

(Reporting by Dana Ford; Editing by Walter Bagley)
((dana.ford@thomsonreuters.com; Tel. +511 221 2130))



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Talisman Energy has no charm in Peru

Talisman Energy has no charm in Peru

Tal"is*man\, n.; pl. Talismans.
1. A magical figure cut or engraved under certain superstitious observances of the
configuration of the heavens, to which wonderful effects are ascribed; the seal, figure,
haracter, or image, of a heavenly sign, constellation, or planet, engraved on a sympathetic
stone, or on a metal corresponding to the star, in order to receive its influence.

2. Hence, something that produces extraordinary effects, esp. in
averting or repelling evil; an amulet; a charm; as, a talisman to avert diseases.

Today, communities in the Peruvian jungle region of Loreto issued a straightforward warning to Talisman Energy (TLM) (TLM.to) ; you either leave voluntarily before November 15th or we will force you to leave. As noted in this report, the people who live in and around TLM's block 64 and 101 concessions do not want any development that might interfere with the environment in which they live. To quote the local leader Cesar Zúñiga Butuna, president of the Federación de Nacionalidad Achuar del Perú (FENAP):

"We do not want our forests, rivers and earth polluted, because this is our natural market."

"We as the indigenous people reject the Canadian company Talisman. We do not want them working in our territory, we want the Peruvian state to respect us, and the armed forces must stop supporting the company."

"If they do not want to leave we will force them out; this is the agreement that has been coordinated with theAwajún brother (people) and the Huambisas of the Amazon. It is time that the government listens to us and we will make them respect us."

"We have proof that pollution already exists, damage to nature and to indigenous people in the communities where petroleum activities are developed. For 37 years in the Achuar brother communities of the Corrientes River, petroleum has not brought any development to them; on the contrary they are sick and poverty stricken."

The locals also noted that Talisman was being rather underhand in its public relations exercises, as it had received the approval of two sets of social groups and was doing the rounds with these people promoting the company. The on-the-spot locals (of Nuevo Alegría in the Morona disctrict, part of the Datem del Marañón province of Loreto) accuse Talisman of bribing these people, and also point out they are from areas not affected by the development. They also say that the locals supporting Talisman in the area are two social groups, while there are 34 groups that reject Talisman's presence that are not getting their voice heard.

Now TLM is a big oil company with most of its developments either in North America or the North Sea. If it does eventually walk away from Peru it will hardly be a company killer. So now that the locals, the real locals, have made their voice heard and have given Talisman three weeks to leave the area, will they do so? Watch this space.


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Reuters runs the Talisman Energy story