shell in takeover approach of woodside petroleum, page-16

costello will block any bid from shell like last t Costello blocks Shell's bid for Woodside

Costello: 'I did not find this an easy decision.'
April 23, 2001
Web posted at: 9:20 AM EDT (1320 GMT)



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In this story:

Committed to $780m expansion

Shell counter proposals could not be certain

Wants Australia to maximise N.W. Shelf potential

RELATED SITES


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


By CNN's Ian McMinn

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Australian Treasurer Peter Costello has blocked Shell's takeover bid for Woodside Petroleum, operator of the North West Shelf oil and gas project.

Costello said the $5 billion Shell bid, launched on November 24 last year, was not in the national interest.

"I did not find this an easy decision," Costello told a news conference in Canberra. "In fact it is one of the hardest decisions one could ever face in public life because it was so evenly poised."

"But in the end the decision was mine and I made it."

In London, shares in Shell Transport & Trading, the 40-percent owner of Royal Dutch/Shell, moved up 1.4 percent at 574 pence in afternoon trade.

But the Australian market did not like Costello's announcement. The Australian dollar dropped rapidly, losing more than 1.5 cents from a high of 52.03 US cents to 50.46 as investors digested the news.

Woodside shares lost more than 10 percent, closing A$1.47 down at A$12.49 from Friday's close of A$13.96.