One More Thing:Rumours of a bid by Tullow Oil for the west African oil and gas assets of Devon Energy appear to be wide of the mark.
Sources close to the company said the Irish energy group is not in the market for corporate acquisitions. And certainly not one with a price tag like the $2.8 billion (€2 billion) being touted for Devon's west African assets following an offer by China National Petroleum Corp.
Tullow's focus, as outlined to investors by chief executive Aidan Heavey recently, is on developing its highly promising prospects in Uganda, Ghana, India and Namibia.
The company's net debt stood at about €675 million at the end of 2006, a figure that is expected to be about €150 million bigger come the end of this year.
While analysts say it has a little headroom on the debt side and could issue new shares for any acquisition, Tullow is a canny buyer and the price attaching to the Devon deal is simply too big.
