Hong Kong-listed oil trader and shipping firm Brightoil Petroleum Holdings has held talks with U.S. oil companies Anadarko Petroleum Corp and Newfield Exploration Co to purchase their China operations, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Brightoil has been searching for upstream investment opportunities in China and overseas for several years. Trading in its shares has been suspended since Feb. 11 pending an announcement of a "very substantial acquisition".A source close to Brightoil said the pending announcement pertained to a major upstream transaction. It was not immediately known whether the trading halt was related to the talks held with Anadarko and Newfield. Brightoil declined to comment.Anadarko and Newfield did not reply to emails seeking comment. The sources declined to be identified because the talks were confidential.Reuters reported in November that Anadarko was considering the sale of its holdings in oil and gas projects in China worth about $1 billion.
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (Anadarko) is an independent exploration and production company. Shares of APC fell by 0.21% or $-0.17/share to $81.52. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $73.60 and as high as $98.47. On average, 4772530 shares of APC exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2979496.
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