Royal Dutch/Shell Group has an offer on the table to buy Anadarko Petroleum Corp. for $19.5 billion, according to London’s Sunday Times. Both Shell and Anadarko officials could not be reached for comment, but Anadarko apparently hired Credit Suisse First Boston to negotiate with potential buyers over the summer.

According to the Times, Anadarko wants to begin exclusive negotiations with Shell by October.

Oppenheimer, which recently upgraded the Houston-based independent to “buy” from “neutral,” commented Monday that Anadarko “may have put itself up for sale, but unless a buyer makes an acceptable offer, the company will not be sold. Although management and shareholders may want more than $55/share, [Oppenheimer] thinks a cash offer above $50 is unlikely and a stock transaction could be even lower.” Analysts did not rule out a stock deal “at a small or no premium, similar to Phillips’ acquisition of Conoco and Devon’s acquisition of Ocean Energy.”

Just last week, Anadarko executive Richard Sharples, who is senior vice president of marketing and minerals, said the company was “steadily growing” its production, and declined to comment on the sale rumors.

Speaking at the RBC Capital Markets Energy and Power Conference in Houston, Sharples said, “We’ll make the best decision for the shareholders, but I won’t comment on the rumors,” he said. “We’re having a terrific year, although it’d be hard to believe that if you just listen to the rumors.”

Speculation about Anadarko’s sale began last March, when former CEO John Seitz abruptly resigned over what appeared to be poor stock performance (see Daily GPI, March 27). In August, as the company launched a restructuring program to save $100 million a year, speculation heated up again.

Southwest Securities analyst John Gerdes named ConocoPhillips and ChevronTexaco as potential bidders in August, but also noted that in the past, Shell, Italy’s Eni and BP have had their eyes on Anadarko and “are likely to go through the company’s numbers” (see Daily GPI, Aug. 14).

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