Mumbai: Shell International Petroleum Company Limited (Shell) has signed a letter of intent with Petroplus Holdings AG for a possible sale of two of its French refineries.

Shell will also sell its stake in the Skarv and Idun underdeveloped fields located in the Norwegian Sea as part of planned restructuring.

Shell and Petroplus will discuss detailed terms of an agreement, including developing and processing arrangement for speciality products such as lubricants. The two expect to seal a potential sale during 2008.

The sale, part of an ongoing strategic review of a number of Shell''s refining and petrochemical assets, would include the Petit Couronne and Reichstett Vendenheim refineries and associated infrastructure and businesses. The two refineries have a combined capacity of 220,000 barrels per day.

Shell said a purchase price of $875 million, including working capital of approximately $400 million, has been agreed upon.

The company will continue its retail, commercial road transport, lubricants (including marine lubricants), LPG, aviation and bitumen business in France.

In addition to the Petit Couronne and Reichstett Vendenheim refineries, Shell owns the Berre-l''Etang refinery site complex in France, which is not part of the deal with Petroplus.

Shell said it has received an offer for its Berre-l''Etang refinery site complex and associated infrastructure and businesses to Basell for an agreed price of $700 million.

A/S Norske Shell (Shell-Norway), meanwhile, announced an agreement with E.ON Ruhrgas Norge AS to sell its 28 per cent equity in the undeveloped Skarv and Idun fields for $893 million. The agreement covers the licences PL-159, PL-212, PL-212B and PL-262 in the Norwegian Sea.

The Skarv and Idun fields are located in the Norwegian Sea, 200 km west of Sandnessjøen, in water depths of between 350 and 450 metres. It consists of the Skarv gas and oil field and the Idun gas field. Both fields contain hydrocarbons at three reservoir levels and the total recoverable resource basis is estimated to 16.8 MSm3 of oil and condensate and 48.3 GSm3 of rich gas.

The sale of both the refineries as well as the oil field assets is subject to staff consultations and regulatory approvals.

Royal Dutch Shell is a global leader in downstream refinery activities. The company has some 4 million barrels per day of world wide refining capacity, and around 25 million tonnes per year of refining capacity.

Shell is the world''s largest single branded fuels retailer with some 46,000 service stations worldwide, and operations in more than 130 countries and territories around the world.

Incorporated in England and Wales, Royal Dutch Shell plc has its headquarters in The Hague and is listed on the London, Amsterdam, and New York stock exchanges.