BP May Move On Cove Energy

BP

, Europe's second-largest oil company, is reportedly considering a takeover offer for U.K.-based Cove Energy PLC, the company that recently discovered natural gas off the coast of Mozambique. The news was originally reported by the Sunday Times of London, which did not identify sources. Cove put itself up for sale after the Mozambique gas discovery and India's Gail and ONGC have been rumored to be potential suitors for the company. A sale of Cove could fetch $1.2 billion, the Financial Times recently reported. BP has done business in Mozambique since the 1920s and has the second-largest presence there of any major oil company, according to the company's Web site. The British oil giant says it has 150 staffers in the African nation.