Shell Australia Chief Ann Pickard declared yesterday Shell is in no rush to decide on the trade of its 24 per cent share in Woodside Petroleum to BHP Billiton.

Declining to elaborate on the progress of the discussions of the supposed sale, Pickard said, "There are no commercial discussions. I am not in a hurry to do anything. Woodside is a great company.”

With these cautious words, Pickard expected to pacify speculations that BHP, the world's largest miner, is preparing to launch Australia's biggest ever takeover bid for Woodside.

On the other hand , Woodside Chief Executive Don Voelte’s said thet he is unaware of the existence of such discussions. "If I knew anything I would have to tell the (Australian Securities) exchange," Voelte told the reporters.

According to London's Sunday Times, detailed talks are ongoing between BHP and Royal Dutch Shell.

The speculations on the deal, which had been continuing for a week, caused Woodside’s share price to shoot to 14 per cent to $47.26. With this, petroleum analysts declared that the oil and gas corporation may now be too expensive.

If the deal comes into completion, it would be the largest corporate transaction in the history of Australia.

The current major deal that ever transpired in Australian corporate world is the $21.9bn takeover of Coles by Wesfarmers in 2007. BHP’s bid to Shell over the latter’s stake on Woodside, at the estimated price, would be twice as much as the existing major deal in the country.

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