Shell and ExxonMobil are nearing a $500m (£390m) deal to offload two gas sites in the North Sea amid the companies’ ongoing retreat from the UK’s oil basin.

The duo are putting the finishing touches to a deal to sell the Clipper and Leman Alpha installations in the southern region of the North Sea to UK-based start-up Viaro Energy.

Clipper and Leman Alpha are major gas sites and have been owned by Shell and ExxonMobil via a joint venture since the mid-1960s.

They have called time on their ownership amid a broader pivot away from the North Sea by large oil groups.

The deal has nearly been agreed but could still fall apart, Reuters reported. 

ExxonMobil sold the bulk of its North Sea assets to private equity-backed Neo Energy in 2021 but retained a 50pc stake in the Clipper and Leman fields. 

A sale would mark the end of ExxonMobil’s involvement in the North Sea after nearly 60 years.

The retreat comes days after US oil major Chevron also announced it was quitting the North Sea after 55 years.

The group, the world’s third-largest oil company, said it was leaving the region after a review of its global operations. It plans to sell investments in a string of North Sea assets, which will likely fetch between $800m and $1bn.

The Telegraph reported last week that the North Sea oil industry faces an uncertain future because of the General Election, with Labour planning to increase a windfall levy on profits made by oil and gas companies introduced by the Conservatives in 2022.