Oil giant Shell said today the company would sell off "significant" non-core assets by the end of 2006.
Shell chief executive Mr Jeroen van der Veer told a conference in Paris that when assets were available at the right price Shell may also make acquisitions.
"Shell is not afraid of acquisitions but when the oil price is high it may cost too much," he said.
Commenting on the group's business strategy, Mr van der Veer said Shell would chiefly focus on its upstream interests in exploration and production.
"The essence of our strategy is simple, more upstream and to be profitable downstream," he said. Shell is planning 20 "big cat" exploration wells and four of those will be in European waters next year, he said.
He also said Shell was planning to spend $6 billion on a gas-to-liquids plant in Qatar.