Oil giant Shell may be about to announce further cost cutting and a possible delay to its plans to offload assets, a report said yesterday.
Chief executive Ben van Beurden is under “increasing pressure” to justify the firm’s £35billion takeover of BG Group in the middle of a severe oil and gas industry slump, it added.
Shell is holding a capital markets day for investors tomorrow and it is thought it may update on its sale plans and fresh cost-cutting then.
Last month, Shell chief financial officer Simon Henry said cost levels in the North Sea needed to come down “substantially”.
Action already taken to integrate BG within Shell’s operations, including job cuts, were “probably about it for now” but he did not rule out further headcount reductions.
The Anglo-Dutch company has been under pressure from shareholders to cut costs and safeguard its dividend.
Shell has already scrapped multi-billion-pound projects during the past year, including controversial exploration in the Alaskan Arctic.
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