Is that an “I told you so” coming from the Barrett Resources board room? Yesterday, Royal Dutch/Shell raised its bid $5 a share for the Denver-based independent, and is now valuing the gas-rich company at $2.01 billion. Shell launched a hostile takeover bid in March for $55 a share, but Barrett had said the offer was too small (see Daily GPI, March 12).

Since then, the two have been playing tug of war with shareholders, with Shell standing its ground at $55 a share and Barrett saying the offer was “inadequate.” Earlier this week, however, Barrett seemed to gain ground when the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission approved a 20-acre increased density drilling covering 16,000 acres of federal lands in the Piceance Basin.

The ruling gave Barrett 50% more in proved reserves, raising the company’s estimate to 2.1 Tcfe. Of that amount, 96% is in natural gas. Its previous estimate was 1.37 Tcfe. Following the reserve ruling, Barrett was raised to “market perform” by Frost Securities.

Along with the increased offer, Shell also extended its tender date to May 9 instead of May 4.

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