Shell completes its much-anticipated takeover of BG Group on Monday, facing a fresh battle to dispose of $30bn of assets in the next three years as the oil market downturn drags on.
The £35bn mega merger was proposed before the full brunt of the oil market’s 70pc collapse slashed value across the sector, and Shell is under pressure to push through the disposals to maintain shareholder dividends even as profits plummet.
Shell’s reported its sharpest decline in income in 13 years for 2015 as sales collapsed by 97pc to cut profits by 56pc compared to the year before.
But with the oil rout wiping value from across the embattled oil and gas sector analysts say Shell will struggle to spin-off assets at the price it once expected to.