Skip to main content

The sun sets behind the Canso Causway, where Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is planning to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on the coast of Nova ScotiaSandor Fizli

Shares of U.S. oil and gas company Anadarko Petroleum Corp. jumped above highs reached days before BP PLC's Gulf of Mexico Oil spill, rising more than 8 percent Thursday on market talk that a bid from BHP Billiton Ltd was in the works.

Rumors resurfaced that BHP Billiton Ltd. is lining up an offer for the company. The Daily Mail reported that Billiton may offer $90 per share. The U.K. newspaper did not cite its sources.

A spokesman for Anadarko was not immediately available to comment.

"It's not new but for whatever reason it's finding traction again this morning," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, N.J.

Shares of Houston-based Anadarko rose to a session high of $76.50, eclipsing a high of $74.74 reached on April 20, five days before the rig explosion and oil spill that spewed more than four million barrels of crude into the Gulf.

Anadarko owns 25 per cent of the ruptured Macondo well that BP operated. The U.S. oil and gas company has pinned blame for the accident on BP.

After the spill, shares of Anadarko slid to a low of $34.54 as investors worried over the company's liability in the disaster that left 11 workers dead and caused the worst U.S. offshore oil spill.

Interact with The Globe