According to a recent report from Bloomberg, oil behemoth Shell is currently considering purchasing fellow UK company BP.
In recent weeks, Shell executives have conferred regarding the acquisition, though talks remain in their infancy as the oil major observes whether oil prices and BP stock will continue to experience decline.
A spokesperson at Shell commented:
“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.”
Should a deal between the two London-headquartered oil companies – that have long been regarded rivals – go ahead, it would mark one of the industry’s biggest takeovers in history.
February this year saw BP initiate a “fundamental reset” of the green strategy it had pursued. It abandoned its short and long-term clean-energy plans to assume a renewed focus based on fossil fuel. In late April, the parent company stated that it intended to boost its US-based production of gas and oil by over 50 per cent by the year 2030.
The move was an attempt from BP to bolster its revenue and appease its shareholders after its Q1 profits for 2025 plummeted by 50 per cent (when compared to a year ago), to hit just $1.4 billion.
Bloomberg noted that while the price of Shell’s stock has declined by around 14 per cent in the last 12 months, its market capitalisation, valued at $197 billion, is over twice BP’s.
Additionally, BP is facing growing pressure to improve its profit margins with Elliott Investment Management, the aggressive activist enterprise, announcing its 5 per cent stake in the British oil company.
