Shell Objects To Reported $1B Outsourcing Price TagShell Objects To Reported $1B Outsourcing Price Tag

European petroleum company Royal Dutch/Shell Group is discounting reports that a far-reaching IT-services agreement signed with IBM and India's Wipro Technologies is worth $1 billion.

"It's too early to provide a definitive figure on what the contract is worth," a Shell spokesman said Wednesday, adding that many of the details of the agreement have yet to be worked out.

A report over the weekend in India's Economic Times valued the deal at roughly $1 billion. The newspaper called it "the mother of all outsourcing deals." Wipro's share price has spiked about 10% since the report was published.

Although it may not reach 10 figures, the agreement should still rank as one of the year's largest offshore-outsourcing deals. Shell is looking to reduce its IT head count by 30% by 2006, and much of the work it performs in-house will fall to Wipro and IBM. The oil company presently employs about 9,000 IT workers and is hoping to save about $850 million annually as a result of the moves.