RDSA.L Share News (RDSA)

(Sharecast News) - Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has begun negotiations to acquire North Sea explorer Endeavor Energy for around $8bn, roughly half of what the Texan outfit was expected to go for when it put itself up for sale earlier this year, according to reports.While discussions with the Anglo-Dutch firm were yet to reach an advanced stage, Shell was said to have beaten out the likes of Exxon, Chevron and Conoco Phillips, Bloomberg reported on Monday night.Negotiations had apparently also been complicated by Endeavor's founder Autry Stephens, whose desire to hold on to a chunk of the group's mineral rights or ownership of untapped oil, guaranteeing him royalties when the assets were to be drilled, has led to the firm's expected sale price dropping sharply from the previously anticipated $15bn price tag.According to Bloomberg's sources, if the pair were unable to reach a deal, Endeavor could consider going public in 2019.Endeavor holds drilling rights on more than 300,000 acres of undeveloped land across the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico, the most productive oilfield in the US.As of 0920 GMT, Shell shares had slipped 2.43% to 2,265.50p.