First Gas-To-Liquid Product Shipment Reaches America

HOUSTON, Nov. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Shell Lubricants announced today the arrival of its first shipment of gas-to-liquid (GTL) base oil at the Port of Houston. The high-quality product, the first from the Qatar-based Pearl GTL plant to reach the Americas, will be stored at a hub in Houston and routed to Shell Lubricants' GTL-enabled blending facilities throughout the United States.

Shell Lubricants will use Pearl GTL base oil, a high-quality Group III base oil, in the manufacture of its premium motor oils.  Group III base oils are the foundation for formulating next-generation oils that address needs for improved energy efficiency, longer equipment life and reduced maintenance costs.

"The arrival of the first shipment of GTL base oil to the Americas is an extremely exciting event for Shell Lubricants and our customers," said Lisa Davis, president, Shell Commercial Fuels and Lubricants, Americas.  "This new base oil is another clear example of Shell Lubricants' commitment to using technology and innovation to meet the growing demand for premium motor oils and to sustain our position as the world's leading marketer of finished lubricants."

Pearl GTL, a partnership between Royal Dutch Shell ("Shell") and Qatar Petroleum, has built the world's largest gas-to-liquids plant in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar. The plant uses natural gas from Qatar's North Field to manufacture high-quality base oils and other GTL products. Once the Pearl GTL plant is operating at full capacity, it will be one of the world's largest sources of lubricant base oils with the capacity to produce about 30,000 barrels per day, enough to fill 225 million cars per year. Shell will be the only oil major capable of meeting all of its Group III base oil needs from internal sources.

Compared to typical base oils, which are refined from crude oil, GTL base oils represent an alternative starting point for the manufacture of finished lubricants. Within the range of commercially available base oils, Group III oils have high viscosity index, low volatility and good low-temperature fluidity and are often used to make synthetic motor oils. Shell GTL base oil usage will be an essentially invisible change to Shell Lubricants' existing premium formulations, although in some cases lubricants using GTL base oil may appear lighter in color.  

About Pearl GTL
Pearl GTL is a partnership between Qatar Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell launched in July 2006.  Pearl comprises two offshore platforms, 60 km off the Qatar coast connected by pipeline to the largest gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant ever built.  Shell operates the Pearl GTL plant, which was developed under a Development and Production Sharing Agreement with the Government of the State of Qatar.  The plant was brought into production in May 2011 and converts the gas and oxygen to GTL wax. In the last step of the process, the waxes are cracked and distilled into finished GTL products.

To read more about Pearl GTL, please click here.

About Shell Lubricants
The term 'Shell Lubricants' collectively refers to the companies of Royal Dutch Shell plc that are engaged in the lubricants business. Shell Lubricants companies lead the lubricants industry, supplying more than 13% of global lubricants volume.(a)  The companies manufacture and blend products for use in consumer, heavy industrial and commercial transport applications. The Shell Lubricants portfolio of top-quality brands includes Pennzoil®, Quaker State®, FormulaShell®, Shell TELLUS®, Shell RIMULA®, Shell ROTELLA® T, Shell SPIRAX® and Jiffy Lube®.

(a) Kline & Company, "Global Lubricants Industry 2010: Market Analysis and Assessment."

Notes to Editors

Cautionary Note:

The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this press release "Shell", "Shell group" and "Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. ''Subsidiaries'', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this press release refer to companies in which Royal Dutch Shell either directly or indirectly has control, by having either a majority of the voting rights or the right to exercise a controlling influence. The companies in which Shell has significant influence but not control are referred to as "associated companies" or "associates" and companies in which Shell has joint control are referred to as "jointly controlled entities". In this press release, associates and jointly controlled entities are also referred to as "equity-accounted investments". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect (for example, through our 34% shareholding in Woodside Petroleum Ltd.) ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management's expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''anticipate'', ''believe'', ''could'', ''estimate'', ''expect'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'', ''objectives'', ''outlook'', ''probably'', ''project'', ''will'', ''seek'', ''target'', ''risks'', ''goals'', ''should'' and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this press release, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for the Group's products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserve estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including potential litigation and regulatory effects arising from recategorisation of reserves; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2008 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov).  These factors also should be considered by the reader.  Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this press release, November 23, 2011. Neither Royal Dutch Shell nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) permits oil and gas companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only proved reserves that a company has demonstrated by actual production or conclusive formation tests to be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions.  We use certain terms in this press release that SEC's guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in filings with the SEC.  U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov. You can also obtain these forms from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.

SOURCE Shell Lubricants

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