Pride & Seadrill Up On Merger Speculation (PDE, SDRL)

Shares of Seadrill Limited Ordinary Shares (NYSE: SDRL) and Pride International, Inc. (NYSE: PDE) are both gaining on heavier than normal volume.

This comes on speculation that the two companies may be looking at a merger.

Yesterday, Seadrill CEO John Fredriksen said that Seadrill was looking at all reasonable opportunities when asked about the possibility of a merger with Transocean (NYSE: RIG).

Fredriksen was quoted by Bloomberg yesterdayday as saying that he's "looking at everything that is reasonable."

Shares of SDRL are gaining 57 cents to trade at $25.30, and PDE is better by 77 cents to trade at $25.98.