BP stock posted volatile gains in Wednesday's stock market on reports Shell is in "early talks" to acquire the oil and gas producer that is currently valued at about $80 billion. If the deal were to take place, it would be the largest oil industry combination since the $83 billion merger of Exxon and Mobil in the late 1990s.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Shell was "holding early stage talks" to acquire BP and that talks are currently active. The report cites "people familiar with the matter" and notes that "discussions are moving slowly."
Meanwhile, a Shell spokesperson told the Financial Times that "no talks are talking place."
BP stock soared more than 10% before paring gains back to 1.7% during stock market action on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Shell shares fell more than 4%, then backtracked to a 1% decline.
BP Stock And Oil Stocks
Beaten down by months of weak prices and demand outlooks, oil stocks are generally rebounding from deep lows. BP stock is up 6% in the 2025 stock market but down 12% from its Feb. 14 high of 35.55. Shell stock, since hitting a March 2 high of 74.18, has retreated more than 7%.
Among the largest oil and gas names, Chevron edged down 0.1% to 143.38 during Wednesday's stock market trading. Exxon Mobil gained 0.1% to 108.48.
U.S. oil prices slumped more than 8% on Monday to about $67.85. On Tuesday, U.S. oil prices continued to retreat, falling around 4% to $64.37 following President Donald Trump's announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
On Wednesday oil prices rose about 2% to $64.58 per barrel.
The news eased concerns over potential oil supply disruptions and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Donald Trump's Magic Touch Holds As Oil Prices Retreat
The potential move by Shell and BP comes as Chevron is still working to consummate its $53 billion deal for Hess. Exxon Mobil closed its $6o billion deal for Pioneer Natural Resources.
BP stock has a 21-day average true range of 1.88%. The ATR metric, available on IBD's MarketSurge charting tool, gauges the characteristic breadth of a stock's behavior. Stocks that tend to make large jumps or dives in daily stock market action, the kind that can trigger sell rules and shake investors out of a stock, have a high ATR. Stocks that tend to make more incremental moves have lower ATRs.
Investors can keep tabs on the IBD Leaderboard watchlist, the IBD 50 list of top growth stocks and IBD SwingTrader along with the IBD Sector Leaders list.
BP stock has a 27 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. Shares also have a 21 Relative Strength Rating and a 20 EPS Rating.
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