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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/bp-speculation-sees-shares-surge.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Fresh speculation linking BP to a takeover bid from Royal Dutch Shell saw shares surge" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/min-bp-speculation-sees-shares-surge.jpg" alt="Fresh speculation linking BP to a takeover bid from Royal Dutch Shell saw shares surge"/></a></p>
<p>Fresh speculation linking BP to an opportunistic takeover bid from rival Royal Dutch Shell has sparked a surge in shares at the beleaguered firm.</p>
<p>Rising oil prices and reports that BP may not need all of its 20 billion US dollar (£12.8 billion) compensation fund to repay the victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill also contributed to the 5% improvement.</p>
<p>The rally added £4.8 billion to the company&#8217;s market value and took BP shares to their highest level in six months. At 491p they are still way down on the peak of 655p seen before the explosion.</p>
<p>According to the Daily Mail, Shell considered a takeover bid for BP after its rival&#8217;s share price slumped by half following the Deepwater Horizon explosion in April, which spilled hundreds of millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.</p>
<p>Shell decided against making an offer because of the threat posed by unlimited liabilities relating to the spill. But the company resolved to step in with a counter offer if one of the American oil giants Exxon Mobil or Chevron bid first, said the newspaper.</p>
<p>Senior Shell executives still believe the two firms would make good partners and a merger could create significant cost savings, it added.</p>
<p>BP is due to publish full-year results on February 1, when it may announce a resumption of dividend payments. This prospect has been lifted by the rising price of crude oil, which today reached 92 US dollars per barrel at a near two-year high.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Kenneth Feinberg, the lawyer administering BP&#8217;s compensation fund on behalf of the US Government, is reported to have said that 10 billion US dollars may be enough to repay the victims of the spill.</p>
<p>David Hart, an oil and gas analyst at Westhouse Securities, said: &#8220;These reports may give investors reason to believe that a dividend could be brought back sooner rather than later and that could have quite a positive impact on the share price.&#8221;</p>
<p>The US Government is also suing BP in a separate claim, but a payout could take years, he added.</p>
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