BP Stock Jumps After Report That It’s in Merger Talks With Shell

Shares of BP jumped Wednesday, lifted by a report that Shell was in talks to acquire it in what would mark a huge deal for the pair of U.K. oil giants.

BP’s (BP) U.S.-traded stock was recently up about 7%, while Shell’s (SHEL) was off roughly 3%. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, wrote that the companies were in “early stage talks” to merge. Bloomberg in early May wrote that Shell was studying a possible deal.

A deal would combine two massive oil companies. Shell’s market capitalization is around $208 billion, according to Visible Alpha, while BP’s was around $79 billion.

“As we have said many times before, we are sharply focused on capturing the value in Shell through continuing to focus on performance, discipline and simplification,” a Shell spokesperson said in emailed comments.

BP did not respond to Investopedia’s request for comment in time for publication.