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Royal Dutch Shell said on Tuesday that it plans to exit up to 10 countries as part of cost-saving measures amid the downturn in the global oil market. The planned exit is also part of a previously announced $30 billion asset sale programme expected to be completed by 2018.

The move comes after the Anglo-Dutch oil giant completed its $54 billion acquisition of BG Group, the British oil and gas company in February.

"I see important opportunities for Shell from the substantial and lasting changes underway in the energy sector," Shell's Chief Executive Officer, Ben van Beurden, said in a statement.

Shell, which has operations in 70 countries, did not specify which countries it plans to leave. Last month, Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, said the company has no plans to leave Nigeria despite the spate of militant attacks on its oil and gas infrastructure in the Niger Delta region.

Aside from the planned exit, Shell also said it plans to slash its 2016 capital expenditure from $35 billion to $29 billion. The company announced an annual spending target of between $25 billion to $30 billion until the end of the decade. Further cost savings will come from 12,500 job cuts over two years to the end of 2016.

"By capping our capital spending in the period to 2020, investing in compelling projects, driving down costs and selling non-core positions, we can reshape Shell into a more focussed and more resilient company, with better returns and growing free cash flow per share," Ben van Beurden said.

In the fist quarter of 2016, Shell reported that its profit fell by 89 percent to $484 million because of low oil prices.