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Shell eyes $11 billion bid for Enron

Energy giant Royal Dutch/Shell Group is believed to be about to mount an $11 billion bid for troubled US energy supply group Enron Corp, the Independent on Sunday said.

Shell declined comment on the report.

The newspaper said the potential deal, the subject of considerable speculation on both sides of the Atlantic, would fit Shell's ambitions to add more downstream energy operations to its portfolio.

"I have no doubt that a deal is something Shell is looking into," the paper quoted one senior analyst as saying. The report did not specify other sources.

Enron, the US's largest energy trader, lined up $1 billion of new credit on Thursday in a bid to restore investor confidence. Even so, Standard & Poor's cut Enron's credit rating after stock markets closed on Thursday, saying it could do so again if the situation worsens.

Enron has been rocked by a stock slide that has slashed two-thirds of its share price since October 16, when the company reported a $1 billion charge that was caused, in part, by dealings linked to a chief financial officer who was subsequently ousted.

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