Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, is selling most of its stake in Australian oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum Ltd. for about $5 billion as the company accelerates asset sales.

Shell plans to sell 78.3 million of its Woodside shares to investors and the Australian company plans to buy back the same amount, The Hague-based company said Tuesday in a statement.

Shell flagged last year that it would eventually sell its 23 percent holding in Australia’s second-largest oil and gas producer. Shell’s move to accelerate asset sales to free cash for new projects was seen as increasing the likelihood the Anglo-Dutch company will finally divest its remaining stake.

Woodside Chief Executive Officer Peter Coleman pressed Shell in February to take action on its stake, saying investors wanted “certainty.”

Trading in shares of Woodside, which closed Monday at A$42.85, was halted in Sydney for the news Tuesday.

Shell’s sale for about $5 billion after tax represents 19 percent of Woodside’s shares, the company said.