Schroder Salomon Smith Barney (SSSB) has concluded 12 months of work for Royal Dutch Shell as it buys Texaco out of two joint ventures for $3.8bn (€3.48bn), thereby improving the chances of Chevron obtaining US approval for its takeover of Texaco.

Shell Oil, a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil and gas group, has agreed with Texaco to buy out the US oil company's 50% shared in Equilon, Shell and Texaco's joint venture. Meanwhile, Shell and Saudi Aramco have agreed to buy out Texaco's one-third share in Motiva, their three-way joint venture. Shell will become the majority shareholder in Motiva.