People familiar with the matter had told The Wall Street Journal that Shell was in early-stage talks to acquire BP, though a deal was far from certain. The talks are moving slowly, one person told the Journal.
BP shares jumped more than 10% to a session high of $32.94 on the report. Shell, however, subsequently denied talks were talking place. BP shares were last up 2%.
“This is further market speculation. No talks are taking place,” a Shell spokesperson told CNBC. “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.”
It is unlikely Shell would purchase the entirety of BP, people familiar with the matter told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan. It is more likely that BP would be split and sold in pieces to multiple companies if deal did transpire, the people said.
BP has struggled to find direction over the past five years. It set ambitious goals to slash carbon dioxide emissions and invest in renewable energy. But BP announced plans in February to boost oil and gas investment and slash its renewables spending as the company has underperformed Shell and U.S. rivals.
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