The U.S. No.2 oil company, ChevronTexaco Corp., is considering a bid to buy smaller rival Unocal Corp. , The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The report comes a month after China National Offshore Oil Corp. , China's top offshore oil and gas producer, was reported to have entered into talks with Unocal, which has a market value of about $14 billion.

According to the Journal, Unocal, the U.S. No. 9 oil and natural gas producer, has for years been considered a takeover target. A spokesman for ChevronTexaco did not immediately return a call seeking comment.