Global oil major Shell will soon outsource almost 3,000 information technology jobs to India, Malaysia and China, according to internal company documents, said a The Register report.

"Central services at Shell have been rebranded Group IT Infrastructure (GITI), although this is known internally as 'Give IT to India,' said The Register.

Almost one third of jobs in the IT department could go abroad. The cost-saving project, dubbed ITVision, is being overseen by CIO and ex-HP man Mike Rose, and may save the oil giant $850 million per year by outsourcing jobs, said The Register.

• India and Outsourcing: Complete Coverage

Quoting a company spokesman, The Register said: "The figures you have are right. The project has been running for some time and is now moving from planning to implementation. We are committed to keeping some IT function in the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands and Malaysia. We are in the process of talking to staff and it is too early to be definitive about where the jobs will go."

The Register reported that Shell staff are "deeply unhappy at the proposed changes and question if the new structure will meet Shell's IT requirements."

The target headcount figure of 3,000 is believed to be for the end of 2006, but jobs are most likely to go to India, Malaysia and China.

The Register said that the latest memo from ITVision asks: "How many jobs will be impacted? and Do we have IT jobs in the future, and is there a career path for me?"

The memo said that Shell may cut between 1,900 and 2,800 jobs from its total IT staff of 9,300. Most of these job losses are likely to take place in the US and the UK.