Friday 18 May 2007
OIL industry consolidation talk flowed straight to the top yesterday as BP was linked with Shell for a £200 billion-plus alliance.
Shell gained 66p to 1859p and BP rose 13%p to 570%p as late afternoon rumours of a merger between two of Britain’s biggest companies did the rounds.
Their shares were already on the rise owing to higher oil prices after concerns that US gasoline stocks might fail to meet the peak demand period.
There were also suggestions that a predator was mulling a bid for oil and gas explorer Cairn Energy, 62p higher at 1735p.