GE in talks to buy oilfield services provider Baker Hughes: WSJ

(Reuters) - General Electric Co is in talks to buy No. 3 oilfield services provider Baker Hughes Inc , the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

GE has approached Baker Hughes, but details of the talks couldn't be learned and the talks could fall apart before an agreement is reached, the WSJ said. (http://on.wsj.com/2eVuf8x)

Baker Hughes, which has a market capitalization of $23.1 billion, declined to comment.

The deal would be large even for GE, roughly double the size of its $13 billion acquisition of power assets from Alstom last year. GE could not be immediately reached for comment.

Baker Hughes shares were up 13.7 percent at $62 in after-hours trading. GE shares were down 1.4 percent at $28.23.

GE said last week that it believes the oil market has bottomed, but that demand for the infrastructure equipment the company makes would take longer to recover, probably after the first half of next year.

Baker Hughes' planned merger with bigger rival Halliburton Co , valued at $34.6 billion when it was announced in November 2014, fell through in May due to opposition from regulators.

(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)