Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Kerr-McGee Corp. (KMG) and Western Gas Resources (WGR) confirmed Thursday that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched an informal inquiry into possible insider trading involving their $21 billion merger announcement last month (see NGI, June 26).

The merger, which is expected to be completed this fall, will make The Woodlands, TX-based Anadarko one of the largest domestic independents. On the day of the merger announcement, KMG’s and WGR’s stock prices skyrocketed more than 40%.

The SEC probe is focusing on the spikes in the number of call options for shares of KMG and WGR in the weeks before the transactions were announced. Call options allow investors the right to buy shares of a company at a set price before a certain date. They may also be used to speculate on price moves.

The request for information by the SEC came shortly after the transactions were announced, according to Anadarko spokeswoman Teresa Wong. She said the company had “complied fully…; that’s it.” Spokesmen for KMG and WGR said their companies also had received informal inquiries, and they said the companies are complying with all SEC requests.

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