SINGAPORE, May 6 (Reuters) - Shell is in talks with state-owned Saudi Aramco to sell its fuel stations in Malaysia, the second largest network of its kind in the country, in a deal that could be worth close to $1 billion, four energy industry sources familiar with the matter said. .

Shell declined to comment on the talks, but said Malaysia was an important market for the company. Saudi Aramco also declined to comment.

According to its website, Shell owns about 950 gas stations throughout the Southeast Asian country. No other company except Malaysia's state-owned Petronas has a larger network.

One source explained that the talks began in late 2023, and an agreement is likely to be reached in the coming months.

Two informed sources estimated the value of the deal at about four to five billion ringgit ($844 million to $1.06 billion).

($1 = 4.7390 ringgit)

(Reporting by Trixie Yap, Yantultra Ngoy and Florence Tan in Singapore and Ron Busso in London - Prepared by Abdul Hamid Makkawi for the Arab Bulletin - Editing by Mahmoud Reda Murad)