M&A

TransCanada Corp. announced a US$848-million offer Monday to complete its takeover of Columbia Pipeline Group by buying up all the corporate ownership units of an investment affiliate.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is betting that its offshore expertise and operational efficiencies will give it the upper hand after agreeing to pay $2 billion-plus for the ailing Gulf of Mexico deepwater portfolio of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX).

Two Canadian giants in the agriculture business, Agrium Inc. and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (PotashCorp), on Monday announced plans to merge and become the world’s largest producer of fertilizer, in an all-stock deal valued at $36 billion.

Companies never like to comment on “rumors or speculation,” but sometimes all the gossip can be too much for a multi-billion-dollar organization to bear. Enterprise Products Partners LP and Williams are an example.

In “one fell swoop,” Enbridge Inc. has rebalanced its business between liquids and natural gas infrastructure with the planned acquisition of Spectra Energy Corp., Enbridge CEO Al Monaco said during a conference call Tuesday.

The proposed Duke Energy Corp.-Piedmont Natural Gas Inc. tie-up is nearing final regulatory approval in North Carolina after the companies and the state’s consumer advocate agency, the Public Staff, submitted a proposed order last week approving the transaction.

Royal Dutch Shell plc agreed Monday to take $425 million from EnVen Energy Corp. for the Brutus platform and Glider production system in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

Phillips 66 Partners LP (PSXP) said it has reached an agreement to acquire natural gas liquids (NGL) assets in southeast Louisiana — including approximately 500 miles of pipelines, a storage cavern and other facilities — from Chevron Corp.

Despite predictions that the oil and gas industry would consolidate in the wake of low commodity prices, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity during the first half of 2016 fell to levels not seen since 2008-09, according to a report by Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions.