LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell isnearing the sale of a large part of its North Sea oil and gasassets for $3 billion to a private equity-backed firm, severalbanking sources said.
The deal will mark a major milestone in the Anglo-Dutchcompany's drive to reduce its heavy debt pile following the $54billion acquisition of BG Group in February 2016.
Chrysaor, a North Sea-focused oil company backed by privateequity fund EIG Partners, will acquire from Shell a mix of olderfields, new developments and infrastructure in a move that couldbreath new life into one of the world's oldest offshore basinswhere production has been in a steady decline since the late1990s.
The deal is expected to be announced in the coming days tocoincide with Shell's full-year results on Feb. 2, severalsources said.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso; editing by Jason Neely)
