NorthAmOil: Shell reportedly weighing Permian sale

Royal Dutch Shell is reportedly weighing a sale of some or all of its assets in the US’ Permian Basin.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reported on June 13 that the super-major was reviewing its holdings in the basin, which accounted for roughly 6% of its total oil and gas output last year. The assets could be worth more than $10bn, according to the sources.
There is no guarantee that a deal will be struck to sell the assets, the sources said. However, the news comes less than a month after Shell was ordered by a Dutch court to do more to cut its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While the company is planning to appeal against the ruling, it has also said it would deepen its planned emissions cuts, and against that backdrop, any move to sell oil and gas assets would come as no great surprise.
Shell had previously identified the Permian as one of nine core basins in its energy transition strategy to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. However, it has struggled with profitability in the region.
The super-major would not be the only major player in the Permian to shed assets there if it ends up selling any of them. Last week, Occidental Petroleum agreed to sell some of its non-core Permian holdings to Colgate Energy for $508mn as it works to reduce its debt load.