SYDNEY, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell and BP are considering the sale of refineries and petrolstations in Australia to free up cash, the Australian FinancialReview reported on Tuesday.
Royal Dutch Shell are in talks with two parties - an unnamedlarge private equity firm and a consortium including investmentbank Macquarie Group - over the A$3 billion ($2.69billion) sale of 900 petrol stations and its refinery inGeelong, the Australian Financial Review said, citing sources,who described the talks as "preliminary".
BP is examining a A$3 billion sale of its petrol stationsand refineries in Queensland and Western Australia, theAustralian Financial review reported, citing no sources.
The Australian Financial Review said both Shell and BP woulduse the cash generated for their energy production businesssegments.
The Australian Financial Review also reported marketspeculation that Chevron may follow BP and Shell andconsider selling out of service stations in Australia.