GE explores acquisition of Baker Hughes - source

(Reuters) - General Electric Co has approached No. 3 oilfield services provider Baker Hughes Inc to discuss the possibility of an acquisition, according to a person familiar with the matter.

It is not clear whether Baker Hughes will engage further in deal talks, the person told Reuters.

Baker Hughes, which has a market capitalisation of $23.1 billion (18.99 billion pounds), 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 officials 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 and Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru and Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Andrew Hay)