Shell Profit Rises 15%

Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A), Europe's largest oil company by market value, said its second-quarter profit jumped 15% to $4.39 billion from $3.82 billion a year earlier, helped by increased production and higher oil prices.

Excluding items, Shell's results beat analyst estimates. Shell said it is planning to shed $8 billion in assets this year and next year.

The U.S. government-imposed moratorium on deepwater drilling is holding back Shell projects in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska's Arctic region.

The company is still seeking to dispose of 15 percent of its refining capacity and is selling retail assets in Africa and Latin America, putting a total of 35 percent of its current retail markets under review, according to Bloomberg News.

Shell has been steadily boosting its natural gas exposure since 2005 and expects the fuel to account for more than half its output by 2012.