By Geoff Foster: PUBLISHED: 21:54, 27 July 2012
You would like to think that Royal Dutch Shell’s chief executive Peter Voser had a ‘Plan B’ when he surprised everyone in the City by walking away from a £641m cash bid for Cove, allowing Thailand’s PTT Exploration to win the day.
Of course he did. Speculation is now rife that he is in advanced talks with his counterpart at Anadarko, the US explorer, about the possible acquisition of some or all of its 36.5 per cent stake in the Rovuma-1 offshore gas fields in Mozambique. The major attraction of Cove was its 8.5 per cent stake in the Rovuma block.