It allows the Anglo-Dutch supermajor to reduce its significant financial debt burden that grew after the purchase of rival BG group.

It also allows chief executive Ben van Beurden to walk some of his talk on Shell being at the forefront of moves to tackle global warming.

In fact, both steps are entirely practical. Shell needs to take pressure off its balance sheet and these are some of the least financially-attractive assets in the Shell portfolio, given their high cost to produce.