Shell Launches Phase II of Parque das Conchas

HOUSTON, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Shell today announces investment to support phase II of the prolific Parque das Conchas (BC-10) project more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) off the coast of Brazil.  This significant investment develops the fourth field in the BC-10 block and continues a successful wave of production growth in Shell's Upstream Americas business.  The full project delivers an energy resource of more than 300 million barrels of oil equivalent, with production of some 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

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"This is another important milestone in our delivery of substantial growth in the Americas," said Marvin Odum, Upstream Americas Director.  "Over the next five years, we'll see more projects reach critical delivery points in this region such as last month's announcement of our final investment decision for the Mars B project in the Gulf of Mexico."

Shell began production from the first phase of Parque das Conchas in 2009 with production from nine wells in three fields – Abalone, Ostra, and Argonauta B-West.  Phase II for the project includes seven additional development wells, which will reach total depths of approximately 1,100 meters (3,600 feet) below the seabed.  Production from the first phase of Parque das Conchas is currently above expectations.  

Parque das Conchas was the first full-field development to separate and pump oil and gas from the seabed.  Shell's Perdido Development, in the Gulf of Mexico, was the second.  Electric pumps of 1,500 horsepower drive the oil up nearly 1,800 meters (6,000 feet) to the surface for processing on the Espirito Santo, a floating, production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel.  The FPSO has a daily processing capacity of about 100,000 barrels of oil and 50 million cubic feet of natural gas.

Shell, as operator of Parque das Conchas, holds a 50% interest.  Petrobras (35%) and ONGC (15%) hold the remaining interest.  

"Bringing this phase of Parque das Conchas to life represents another proud moment for Shell's deep-water offshore teams," added Odum.  "The men and women on these teams exude excellence and are backed by a strong legacy of deep water expertise.  We're all looking forward to continuing our responsible operations in the waters off Brazil."

Editors Notes:

Production from the first phase involved two other technical firsts:

• Specially designed steel pipes, which have an innovative kink, or "lazy-wave," allow the vessel to move safely with the ocean swell.
• Huge, electrical cables feed power to the deep water separation and lift system to pump the heavy oil (API 16°-42°) to the FPSO.

The geology of Parque das Conchas also demands extended, horizontal drilling for better production.

Royal Dutch Shell plc

Royal Dutch Shell plc is incorporated in England and Wales, has its headquarters in The Hague and is listed on the London, Amsterdam, and New York stock exchanges.  Shell companies have operations in more than 100 countries with businesses including oil and gas exploration and production; production and marketing of Liquefied Natural Gas and Gas to Liquids; manufacturing, marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals and renewable energy projects including wind and solar power.  For further information, visit www.shell.com

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, October 14, 2010.  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 Oil Company

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