Shell Considered Buying BP

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Royal Dutch Shell plc considered buying rival BP plc, according to a German newspaper report.

"I can't imagine that there is anybody in our industry who did not look into that scenario," Peter Voser, CEO of Shell, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. "At the end of the day, we are all business people."

When the Frankfurt-based newspaper asked Voser if Shell were still interested in BP, he said he had no comment.

A Shell spokesman backed up Voser's comments. BP declined to comment on the report, according to Reuters.

BP's shares have lost more than 50 percent of their value since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. Last month, the oil giant agreed to pay $4.5 billion in fines for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, which took place in the Gulf of Mexico.

Since BP's shares have declined so much, many Wall Street analysts hypothesized it had become a possible takeover target because its intrinsic value is well above its share price.

However, BP is so large that only a handful of companies could purchase the business. Shell is one such company.