Royal Dutch Shell, known for its oil-based products like Shell Tellus S2 M 46 and Shell Gadus S2 V100 3, could be set to generate $1bn (£750 million) within the next couple of years by disposing of currently held assets in the North Sea, global financial service firm UBS has said.

UBS anticipates that Shell’s retreat from the North Sea will start by ‘tidying up’ the prominent global oil company’s high-cost assets, but it does not rule out the possibility of the company also selling off some of its more appealing core projects in what will be a divestment drive totalling £30bn.

Jon Rigby, an oil analyst at UBS, expressed his belief that the selloff of the oil company’s older assets in the North Sea would only bring in a sum in the low nine-figure region unless the oil giant committed to a more ‘radical’ approach. This might include getting rid of stakes in some of the company’s core projects, which are part of its $7bn portfolio in the North Sea.

Rigby said:

“There is of course room to be even more radical, potentially exiting very significant pieces of business that have hitherto been regarded as core. These would be more difficult because the asset and relationships are more entrenched and there are bound to be more significant vested interests within the Shell organisation.”

The company is currently getting ready to pull out of up to ten countries, and sell off $30bn worth of assets following its acquisition of BG Group.