With BP’s share price looking like an oil-slicked fish gasping on a beach, merger rumours are back, and Shell is the leading suitor. Promises or Buyout Prospects? 

Big Oil’s Mid-Life Crisis Is Now a Merger Fantasy. Spoiler: The Planet Still Loses.

Inspired by the CNBC article: “Oil giant BP is seen as a prime takeover target. Is a blockbuster mega-merger in the cards?”

Identity Crisis: BP’s Backslide to the Black Stuff

Once a wannabe climate champion, BP has now slammed into reverse, ditching renewables and chasing oil profits like it’s 1974. CEO Murray Auchincloss calls it a “strategic reset,” but let’s be honest — it’s a greenwash rinse cycle followed by a fossil-fuel binge.

“BP will slash renewable spending and boost oil and gas investment,”

Auchincloss said in February, adding that this pivot is attracting “significant interest” in BP’s non-core assets.

Translation: “We tried being good. Wall Street hated it. Let’s go back to drilling.”

Shell + BP? A Merger Made in Oil-Soaked Hell

With BP’s share price looking like an oil-slicked fish gasping on a beach, merger rumors are back, and Shell is the leading suitor. Analysts say a tie-up could happen — though it may trigger antitrust alarm bells, not that Shell cares about rules unless they’re tax loopholes.

“Certainly, BP is a potential takeover target — no doubt about that,”

said Maurizio Carulli of Quilter Cheviot.

M&A fever is raging across the sector: Exxon bought Pioneer for $60B, Chevron’s chasing Hess for $53B, and now Shell’s circling BP like a pension-fattened vulture.

🇺🇸 Made in Britain. Monetized in America.

Goldman Sachs’ Michele Della Vigna says BP’s best parts aren’t even British:

• Its U.S. operations generate 40% of its cash flow

• Its marketing and convenience division is wildly undervalued

• Its Rosneft exit left a massive hole still smoldering post-Ukraine

“BP is the most U.S.-exposed of all the majors — more than Exxon and Chevron.”

“Being listed in the UK, where Big Oil gets the biggest discount, doesn’t feel right.”

So what’s the move? Sell out. Shift transatlantic. Rebrand as the latest fossil-fueled Frankenstein.

 BlackRock & Vanguard: Oil’s Favorite Hypocrites

Shell’s largest investors — BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street — claim to care about ESG. In reality? They’re cashing in Shell’s oil-fueled profits while it slashes green spending and plots mega-mergers with other polluters.

These are the same firms pushing “sustainable investment portfolios” while shoveling billions into Shell, BP, Chevron, and ExxonMobil. Their commitment to climate action ends the moment the dividend checks clear.

🧠 Sober Reflection

For more than 20 years, John Donovan has chronicled Shell’s corporate crimes and greenwashing on RoyalDutchShellPlc.com. From environmental disasters to espionage, the evidence is vast — and Shell hasn’t dared to sue.

Why?

Because you can’t win a libel case against facts.

Bottom Line?

BP is flailing. Shell is hungry. Wall Street is drooling.

If this merger fantasy becomes reality, it will be the ultimate middle finger to climate science, public trust, and the planet itself.

Because in Big Oil’s world, when the fires start, you don’t stop. You double down and sell the hose to a hedge fund.

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