Despite denials from Regal yesterday that it had received an approach, some shareholders are convinced that the company is in play.
Regal Oil
Regal shares soar on Shell bid reports
Regal Petroleum Jumps on Reports Shell to Bid $1.2 Billion
Shell spokeswoman Olga Gorodilina declined to comment on the report.
Regal says no bid approach from Shell
A Regal spokesman said the Daily Telegraph report that the company had received a letter proposing a 300 pence per share bid was not true. "We have seen no such letter," the spokesman said, citing comments he had just received from Chief Executive David Greer.
Regal approach could be worth £680m
The moves come as Shell, Europe's largest energy group, was said by one person familiar with the company to have made an approach about a possible bid valuing Regal at $1.2bn (£680m).
Ukraine plan fuels Regal revival
The surprise appointment of Mr Greer and two other directors at Regal resulted in the abandoning of a plan for Shell to take a majority stake in the Ukrainian assets for $410m (£210m).
Mr No-nonsense leads at Regal (An example of spin by the Financial Times)
David Greer knows about bad publicity. As deputy chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell's Sakhalin arm, running the Sakhalin-2 project off the far-east coast of Russia, he suffered the indignity of having an internal memo, which was designed to motivate his managers - "lead me, follow me, or get out of my way" - leaked to the Financial Times last year.