REPORT: SHELL, CHEVRON, EXXONMOBIL, TOTALENERGIES, ADNOC ARE ALL CONTENDERS FOR A BP ACQUISITION

bp’s share price decrease has left it vulnerable to a takeover, the Financial Times reports.

Along with Shell’s interest in merging with global oil and energy company bp, Chevron, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) have all looked at the figures, according to a report Thursday by the Financial Times.

• bp is No. 5 on CSP’s 2025 Top 40 Update to the 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count. Chevron- and Jacksons Food Stores-owned ExtraMile is No. 8. Watch for the full 2025 Top 202 ranking in the June issue of CSP magazine and in CSP Daily News.

While Shell executives have discussed the purchase with advisors in recent weeks, discussions are in the early stages and the oil giant is waiting to see if bp stock and oil prices continue to decline, according to a Bloomberg report.

bp shares were up 1.9% on Friday but have fallen about 28% in the last 12 months.

The slide in bp’s share price has left it vulnerable to a takeover as rivals weigh the opportunity to buy at a steep discount, FT said.

If Shell acquired bp, it would pump nearly 5 million barrels of oil and gas per day, which is more than ExxonMobil or Chevron, FT reported.

The gas and liquified natural gas (LNG) assets would be the most appealing element for Shell, the report said.

In February, bp announced a “fundamental reset” of its strategy, abandoning its clean-energy plans with a renewed focus on fossil fuel.

Late last month, the parent of the ampm and Thorntons c-store chains said it intends to boost its U.S. production of oil and gas by more than 50% by 2030.

Continue reading for a breakdown of the oil companies eying a bp merger.

ExxonMobil and Chevron

While ExxonMobil and Chevron are also contenders for a bp takeover, they are “entangled in their own high-stakes takeover drama,” FT reported.

Chevron is awaiting its acquisition of Hess due to ExxonMobil challenging the merger based on its claim to a right of first refusal over Hess’s stake in its shared Stabroek block in Guyana with ExxonMobil.

“Chevron and ExxonMobil are focused on Hess,” according to Andrew Gillick, at research group Enverus, reported by the FT. 

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company

Adnoc has recently completed several multibillion-dollar gas and chemical deals, according to FT, and former bp Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney is on the board of an Adnoc subsidiary, making it a possible contender.

A merger attempt would come at a sensitive time in UK-UAE relations, which were recently strained by controversy over a UAE-backed attempt to buy the Telegraph newspaper—a bid that was ultimately blocked by new UK legislation preventing foreign state ownership of newspapers.

While the UK government opposed foreign takeovers of bp in 2015, bp is now checking if the current opposition would maintain the same stance. 

TotalEnergies

TotalEnergies, as the third-largest global LNG provider, wants to catch up with Shell, FT reported.

It would also be one of the few suitors interested in bp’s clean energy assets because of its renewable power business, FT said.

However, according to FT, analysts said it would be less interested in bp’s refineries, U.S. shale business or its U.S. offshore wind assets, given the anti-wind stance of the Trump administration.

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