BHP Billiton Just Can't Leave M&A Alone

After saying earlier this week that it would leave large-scale mergers and acquisitions alone for a while to spend $80 billion to develop and expand its own mines and oil and gas fields, BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP), the world's largest mining company, may go back on the hunt for deals within a year.

BHP CEO Marius Kloppers, whose luck with big M&A has been decidely bad leading to criticism from investors and analysts, said on the "Inside Business" program on the Australia Broadcasting Corp. "cycles change" and that something else may come up in six months to a year. Kloppers pointed to the oil and gas market as a place for potential opportunities in the future.

BHP has previously been rumored to be interested in acquiring Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) and Woodside Petroleum, Australia's second-largest oil and gas producer.

In the past few years, BHP has seen its attempts at acquiring rival Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO), the world's third-largest mining company, and Potash Corp. (NYSE: POT), the world's largest fertilizer producer, collapse. A mega iron ore joint venture between BHP and RIO was also scrapped last year due to anti-competition concerns.