In April 2006, Houston-based Anadarko Petroleum Corp. was progressing as it had since 1986 when it was spun out of Panhandle Energy as a North American E&P company. When Jim Hackett joined the company as chief executive in December 2003, he began an asset-rationalization program that took place in June 2004 with the goal of optimizing the company's asset footprint to refocus on areas best suited to core skills and talents. By early 2006, Hackett and team, including Al Richey, vice president, corporate development, began thinking growth and rationalization thoughts again. "Jim had a vision to expand on our strengths and experience to move the company forward," Richey says. "We had a leading position in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, from which we could grow, and we wanted to balance that with an enhanced position in the Rocky Mountains." Anadarko's last large-scale purchase was of fellow independent Union Pacific Resources in 2000. Management decided the best way to grow in the deepwater Gulf and in the Rockies was to buy. They came up with a list of three attractive companies, including Oklahoma City-based Kerr-McGee Corp. and Denver-based Western Gas Resources Inc. For more on this, see the April issue of Oil and Gas Investor. For a subscription, call 713-260-6441.

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