Qatar Petroleum International acquires first downstream overseas assets in deal with Shell in Singapore

Qatar Petroleum International and Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte) Ltd (Shell) today signed a series of agreements which will see Qatar Petroleum International take a stake in two Shell Chemicals joint ventures in Singapore.

The agreements were signed by His Excellency Abdulla bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry, and Mr. Peter Voser, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell plc. The signing was witnessed by Mr. S. Iswaran, Singapore Senior Minister of State for Trade & Industry and Education, as well as Mr. Nasser Al-Jaidah, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Petroleum International and Mr. Ben van Beurden, Executive Vice President Shell Chemicals.

The agreements mark the first downstream acquisition by Qatar Petroleum International abroad. Qatar Petroleum International and Shell entered into a strategic partnership in 2007 aimed at identifying and developing international projects of mutual interest throughout the energy value chain.

Under the agreements signed today, Shell will sell its existing shareholdings in two companies to a new joint venture called QPI and Shell Petrochemicals (Singapore) Pte Ltd (QSPS). Through the new venture, Qatar Petroleum International and Shell will then effectively hold 50 per cent of the Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore (Pte) Ltd (PCS) and 30 per cent of The Polyolefin Company (Singapore) Pte Ltd (TPC). The other shareholders in PCS and TPC are respectively, JSPC and NSPC, both Japanese consortia led by Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited.

Completion of the transaction is in December 2009.

Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore owns and operates two naphtha steam crackers totaling 1.9 million tonnes per year of olefins production capacity and is an anchor olefins supplier for the Singapore Petrochemical Complex on Jurong Island.

The Polyolefin Company owns and operates 260,000 tonnes per year of low density polyethylene capacity in three plants and 600,000 tonnes per year of polypropylene capacity in five plants. These plants source their feedstock from Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore.

His Excellency Minister Al-Attiyah said: “In line with the wise vision of His Highness The Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatar Petroleum’s goal is to become a major player in the global energy industry. Qatar is a significant and fast-growing producer of chemical feedstocks. Extending our reach further into petrochemicals in the crucial Asia-Pacific region will help us achieve our ambitious global goals.”

Mr Voser said: “I warmly welcome Qatar Petroleum International as a partner in our chemicals operations in Singapore. I am proud that Qatar has chosen Shell as a partner in projects within the State of Qatar and I am delighted that Qatar has now chosen to extend this relationship abroad. I hope we can progress further such opportunities in the years ahead.”

Mr. Al-Jaidah said: “Today’s agreements are a milestone for Qatar Petroleum International as we expand our business globally. Singapore is a key petrochemicals hub and securing a position here has been a key strategic objective. I look forward to working with Shell to make these investments a big success for years to come.”

The latest joint venture agreement is part of a wider strategic co-operation that Shell has been developing with Qatar. Qatar Petroleum International and Shell, together with PetroChina, are also progressing joint preliminary studies to assess the viability of building with a world-scale, integrated refinery and petrochemical manufacturing complex in China. Shell continues to develop with Qatar Petroleum proposals for a world-scale petrochemicals complex in Qatar.

Shell is building two of the largest energy projects in the world with Qatar Petroleum in Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar. Pearl Gas to Liquids (GTL) is the largest project ever launched in Qatar. It will be the world’s largest GTL plant and will cement Qatar’s place as the GTL capital of the world. The Qatargas 4 LNG project is being developed by Qatargas on behalf of shareholders QP and Shell (30 per cent). The project combines Shell’s global leadership amongst private energy companies in LNG with Qatar’s vision to become the world’s largest LNG supplier.

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 - opens in new window). These factors also should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this press release, 5 November 2009. 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 - opens in new window. You can also obtain these forms from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.