Shell looks to sell North Sea fields in $15bn disposal programme The group's crime-hit Nigerian operations, hit by oil theft, sabotage and illegal refining, are also under review. Shell set a capital expenditure target of $120bn-$130bn between 2012 and 2015, a heavy investment to ensure it maintained a portfolio that would underpin long-term dividend growth. After spending a record $45bn last year, some $5bn more than earlier guidance, Shell is ahead of target. But, with spending on new projects continuing, analysts have calculated that the oil group will make at least $15bn of disposals over the next two years. Jason Kenney, an analyst at Santander, said the North Sea could not be immune from any divestment programme. "There can be no sacred cows," he said. In the last five to 10 years, something like 80pc of the value of Shell's North Sea operations has come from around 20pc of the assets. Shell has a long tail of peripheral assets across the business. It needs to focus and sell these assets to smaller, more flexible players who can get more out of them. It's got to improve earnings and returns and that requires two things - capital discipline and increased divestment. Another analyst, Fred Lucas of JP Morgan Cazenove, said in a note to clients last month that Shell could sell $30bn of non-core assets "without too much thought or portfolio stress." Shell declined to comment on any divestment programme, though at its third-quarter results in October chief financial officer Simon Henry told analysts that 2013 would obviously be a peak year for net investment" and that "we will step up... asset sales in 2014 and 2015." On the North Sea, he added: "Mature assets are always part of the discussion about how long do we keep these but it's just part of a normal tail-end asset review and the global ongoing capital discipline review."