Exxon Seen Boosting Growth With Anadarko-to-EOG Deals: Real M&A

With Exxon Mobil Corp. poised to lose its lead as the largest publicly traded oil producer by output, acquiring Anadarko Petroleum Corp. or EOG Resources Inc. would accelerate growth and help the company regain its lead.

OAO Rosneft’s plan this week to buy BP Plc’s Russian venture TNK-BP for $55 billion would vault the Moscow-based company past Exxon in terms of production. Irving, Texas-based Exxon also is lagging behind on growth, with analysts estimating only a 3 percent increase in sales through 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with 28 percent at Rosneft and more than 26 percent at Anadarko and EOG, which have market values exceeding $30 billion.