Western Gas Resources Inc. of Denver said Tuesday the Wyoming Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved its application to transfer control (at the ultimate parent level) of Mountain Gas Transportation Inc. and MGTC Inc. from Western to Anadarko Petroleum Corp. This was the last remaining regulatory approval required prior to the closing of the merger of Western with a subsidiary of Anadarko (see Daily GPI, June 26).

Anadarko’s bid for Western was announced along with its plan to acquire Kerr-McGee Corp. The double-play transaction recently got antitrust clearance from the Federal Trade Commission (see Daily GPI, Aug. 9).

The proposed merger was announced June 23 and is expected to be completed following approval by Western stockholders Aug. 23 and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Western stockholders will receive $61/common share.

Western is an independent natural gas explorer, producer, gatherer, processor, transporter and energy marketer. Its producing properties are located primarily in Wyoming, including the developing Powder River Basin coalbed methane play, where Western is a leading acreage holder and producer; and the rapidly growing Pinedale Anticline. Western also owns and operates gas gathering, processing and treating facilities in major gas-producing basins in the Rocky Mountain, Midcontinent and West Texas regions.

The $21.1 billion cash deal for Kerr-McGee and Western will give Anadarko leading positions in the Gulf of Mexico and the Rocky Mountain region. It’s the eighth-largest energy deal of all time, according to Thomson Financial, behind BP Amoco’s 1999 acquisition of ARCO (see Daily GPI, April 5, 1999) and ahead of last year’s ChevronTexaco-Unocal pairing (see Daily GPI, April 5, 2005).

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