New Delhi, June 25 -- Shell Plc clarified on Wednesday that it is not in talks to take over rival BP.

Shell's comments came after a Wall Street Journal report cited unnamed sources saying the US company was in early discussions to acquire the British energy firm.

"This is further market speculation. No talks are taking place," a Shell spokesperson said. "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."

Shares of BP surged as much as 10% in New York earlier on Wednesday on the media report. Shares of the company erased most of those gains to trade 1.2% higher as of 12:44 PM local time.

Shell stock fell 0.68%.

BP has been...