Shell Signs SPA to Acquire Gasnor

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, July 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) (NYSE: RDS.B), the current owner of 4.1% of the shares in Gasnor AS, has signed a Share Purchase Agreement for the acquisition of the remaining outstanding shares in the company for USD 74 million (NOK 455.5 million). Subject to Norwegian regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to be closed in the 3rd quarter of 2012.

Gasnor is a market leader in Norway in small scale LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), supplying LNG as a fuel to industrial and marine customers and operating an end to end supply chain, with three small scale production plants and distribution assets including two tanker ships, a fleet of trucks and a network of terminals. The acquisition of Gasnor is an important step for Shell towards creating an LNG sales business.  LNG will be a reliable new addition to Shell's commercial customers' fuel mix.

Colin Abraham, Shell's Vice President for Downstream LNG, said: "The benefits of natural gas in meeting our future energy needs are well-documented. Shell believes the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in transport sector will develop into a sizeable market and given its industry leading expertise across the LNG value chain, the extension into this market is a good fit for Shell. The Gasnor acquisition provides Shell with invaluable customer and market insight built up over a number of years. This will help us to quickly develop and meet customer requirements for LNG as a transport fuel."

Through this acquisition, Shell will capitalise on Gasnor's experience in LNG sales and marketing, combining it with its own customer reach to target European marine customers ahead of new environmental regulations that will come into force from 2015.  These regulations will apply across the Baltic Sea, English Channel and North Sea and will require lower levels of 'air-quality emissions' such as sulphur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Switching to LNG can help to reduce these emissions.  Shell expects European marine LNG to be a key growth sector as customers look for cleaner, cost competitive fuel alternatives as part of their fuel supply mix.

Eilef Stange, Gasnor's Chief Executive Officer, said: "Shell's customer reach and Gasnor's LNG sales and marketing experience is a winning combination.  There is real growth potential for small scale LNG in Europe, particularly in the marine sector, and Gasnor with Shell is well placed to capitalise on this."

LNG as a marine fuel is not new. LNG has been used to power gas engines in LNG carriers for many years. Shell has been a pioneer in this area, and has an excellent track record in terms of the safe storage, handling and movement of LNG.

In September 2011 Shell took its first final investment decision on a LNG for transport project in Canada to supply LNG to Shell Flying J truck stops for use by heavy truck fleets. In June 2012, Shell signed a memorandum of understanding with TravelCenters of America LLC (TA) to sell LNG to heavy-duty road transport customers in the US through TA's existing nationwide network of full-service fueling centers.

NOTE TO EDITORS

• Shell is a global leader in upstream LNG and helped pioneer the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector, providing the technology for the world's first commercial liquefaction plant in 1964. Shell is a participant in nine operating LNG projects with some 21.5 million tonnes per annum operational LNG capacity, in seven countries. It has three new projects under construction with 15 mtpa of LNG options. Shell was a partner in the first-ever purpose built LNG carrier and has been delivering LNG safely for nearly half a century. Today Shell is the world's largest LNG shipping operator, with interests in around a quarter of the LNG vessels in operation.
• Norway was one of the first European countries to focus on LNG as a fuel and this forward thinking helped foster Gasnor's pioneering approach.  Shell already has an upstream and downstream presence in Norway and this LNG acquisition is part of Norske Shell's growth ambitions.

CAUTIONARY NOTE

The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this 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 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 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 23% shareholding in Woodside Petroleum Ltd.) ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

This 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 release, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for the Shell'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 measures as a result of climate changes; (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 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 31 December, 2011 (available at http://www.shell.com/investor and http://www.sec.gov ). These factors also should be considered by the reader.  Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this release, 11 July 2012. 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 release. There can be no assurance that dividend payments will match or exceed those set out in this release in the future, or that they will be made at all.

ENQUIRIES

Shell Investor Relations
Europe, Tjerk Huysinga, +31-70-377-3996
United States, Ken Lawrence, +1-713-241-2069

Shell Media Relations
International, UK, European Press, +44-207-934-5550

SOURCE Royal Dutch Shell plc

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