Shell is aiming to become the most competitive and innovative energy company in the world, according to its latest strategy update, presented by chief executive officer Peter Voser.

Voser said the company was on track to deliver its three-year strategic plan and revealed that in this era of "volatile transitions", Shell was in the throes of an ambitious phase of growth investment, developing new sources of energy.

"We have made good progress in 2010. Our profitability is improving, and we are on track for our growth targets. There is more to come from Shell," explained Voser.

In the first year of the three-year strategic plan, Shell saw some $10bn, or 40% improvement in cashflow to $33bn, lower costs, higher oil and gas production, and continued progress with downstream restructuring with Voser reaffirming commitment to the UK market.

The company continues to sell non-core positions to enhance capital efficiency. Asset sales proceeds have exceeded $30bn in the past five years, and are expected to be up to $5bn in 2011.

Downstream remains an important business for Shell, generating over $21bn of free cashflow in the past five years, from a global portfolio, and the company is redoubling its efforts to improve returns.

The bulk of the 2010-12 asset sales programme has been completed, with transactions since end-2009 reducing refining capacity by over 700,000 barrels a day, reducing its marketing footprint, and generating $4.7bn of disposals proceeds, including the recently-announced disposal plans for UK refining and Africa marketing.

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