BP "is aggressively looking to acquire real estate to scale our network, which is a heightened focus following the recent Tesla announcement," the report quoted Sujay Sharma, CEO of bp pulse Americas, as saying in an interview.

Tesla and BP did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

The development comes days after Tesla CEO Elon Musk abruptly laid off employees who ran the electric vehicle charging business, but said the automaker still plans to expand the Supercharger network at a slower pace for new locations.

BP said in February last year that it planned to invest $1 billion in EV charging stations across the United States by 2030, and in October, placed an order for Tesla's fast chargers worth $100 million.