Delivering an upbeat assessment of Shell’s future, upstream international director Andy Brown said that its $2 billion annual spending in the region over the next three years was proof of its continued commitment.

Most of that expenditure will be devoured by Shell’s sizable non-operated positions in large new projects such as Clair Ridge and Quad 204, both operated by BP.

As far as Shell’s operated assets are concerned, work to improve asset integrity was beginning to show through with increased operational efficiency and uptime.

Consolidating production around core hubs would be central to Shell’s North Sea future but that meant “isolated or diminishing” assets could be divested if they did not fit with that strategy, he admitted.

Speaking in an interview at Offshore Europe,...