News & Media releases

BASF and Shell complete sale of their stakes in Basell to Nell Acquisition

01/08/2005

BASF and Shell Chemicals have completed the sale of their 50-50 joint venture Basell, one of the world's leading manufacturers of polyolefins, to Nell Acquisition S.a.r.l., an affiliate of New York-based Access Industries.

The sale price totals €4.4 billion, including debt. The relevant merger control approvals had already been granted. For Royal Dutch Shell, proceeds are expected to be reported as part of the Royal Dutch Shell 3rd quarter results. The divestment contributes to Royal Dutch Shell's 2-5 bln dollar divestment programme for the period 2004-2006.

Notes to Editor
Shell Chemicals collectively refers to the companies of the Shell Group engaged in the chemicals business. With a multibillion dollar turnover and major manufacturing facilities around the world, Shell Chemicals focuses on the production of bulk petrochemicals and their delivery to large industrial customers. These products are widely used in plastics, coatings and detergents.
For further information: www.shell.com/chemicals/news.

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 145 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 http://www.shell.com

Disclaimer statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements, that are subject to risk factors associated with the oil, gas, power, chemicals and renewables business. It is believed that the expectations reflected in these statements are reasonable, but may be affected by a variety of variables which could cause actual results, trends or reserves replacement to differ materially, including, but not limited to: price fluctuations, actual demand, currency fluctuations, drilling and production results, reserve estimates, loss of market, industry competition, environmental risks, physical risks, risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets and the successful negotiation and consummation of transactions, the risk of doing business in developing countries, legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including potential litigation and regulatory effects arising from recategorisation of reserves, economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions, political risks, project delay or advancement, approvals and cost estimates.

Please refer to the Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2004 (as amended) for a description of certain important factors, risks and uncertainties that may affect the Shell Group's  businesses.  Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any member of the Shell Group undertakes any obligation to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events or other information.

Cautionary Note to US Investors: 
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 presentation, such as "expected producible resources" and "amount of reserves we expect to produce", that the SEC's guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in filings with the SEC.