Royal Dutch/Shell is considering acquisitions worth up to 9 billion US dollars in the immediate aftermath of the historic unification of its Dutch and British holding companies, according to a British newspaper.

Shareholders voted overwhelmingly to merge the two arms of the Anglo-Dutch energy group, ending nearly 100 years of its corporate history, Financial Times said in a story published on Wednesday.

Senior executives said Tuesday that the "momentous" dismantling of the dual-company structure would allow them to take part in any future round of oil industry consolidation, allowing Shell to pay for acquisitions by issuing equities, something that had been difficult in the past.

The merger is said to be in response to last year's reserves scandal, which forced the company to cut its proved oil and gas reserves by a third and led to several lawsuits and the removal of its three most senior executives.

Shell is mulling the massive acquisitions in spite of concerns that the deals are expensive with crude prices climbing as high as about 60 US dollars.

Jeroen van der Veer, the first chief executive of the restructured group, said "It is a win-win situation in that both countries come out of it well."

Source: Xinhua