Stock in BP rose on Tuesday as the British oil major ruled out a share issue and talk persisted of sovereign wealth fund interest, while its Gulf of Mexico oil slick spread to the Texas coast.

BP shares were up 3.7 percent after hitting their highest in two weeks. They at one stage had lost more than $100 billion in value in the 78 days following its April 20 oil rig explosion that unleashed the massive spill.

Backing came from Royal Bank of Scotland, which upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’.

The shares have drawn some support from talk that the company is a takeover target and has approached sovereign wealth funds with offers of a stake to ward off hostile bids.