LONDON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell hassold some of four oil fields up for grabs in Nigeria, it said onWednesday, as the oil and gas company pushes ahead with globalasset sales to cut costs.
Shell last year put up for sale its 30 percent shares infour oil blocks in the Niger Delta -- Oil Mining Licence (OML)18, 24, 25, 29 -- as well as a key pipeline, the Nembe CreekTrunk Line.
"We have signed sales & purchase agreements for some of theOil Mining Leases, but not all that we are seeking to divest," aShell spokesman said.
No details were available on the value of the deals signed,nor when the full process will be completed.
France's Total and Italy's Eni are alsoset to raise revenue from the sale of their 10 percent and 5percent shares in the assets. The Nigerian National PetroleumCorporation (NNPC) owns the remaining 55 percent.
The Financial Times on Wednesday reported that Shell isclose to selling the assets for about $5 billion to domesticbuyers.
In March, Reuters reported that Nigerian firms Taleveras andAiteo made the highest bid of $2.85 billion for the biggest ofthe four oil fields, OML 29.
Shell, along with many other oil majors, is undergoing abroad process of asset sales across the world in an effort tocut costs and boost profits.
Other companies, including Total, Eni, Chevron andConocoPhillips have sought to pull out of the oil-richWest African country which has been plagued by oil theft. (Reporting by Ron Bousso; editing by David Clarke)
