News & Media releases

Shell welcomes progress in Ogoni reconciliation process

31/05/2005

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited ("Shell") today welcomed the appointment of Father Matthew Hassan Kukah as Facilitator of the Ogoni reconciliation process by His Excellency the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Shell also welcomed statements of commitment to a structured process of reconciliation issued today by the Rivers State Government and the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People.

Basil Omiyi, Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, said: “We warmly welcome the statements today by the President, the Rivers State Governor, and the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure that a lasting reconciliation amongst and between Ogonis and Shell is achieved, to the benefit of all stakeholders. We look forward to working with Father Kukah, the Federal and State governments, and Ogoni leaders in making the President’s vision of reconciliation a reality.”

Father Kukah will be assisted in his role as facilitator of the reconciliation process by the International Centre for Reconciliation at Coventry Cathedral.

Shell was forced out of Ogoniland in January 1993 following threats to its staff and contractors.

Notes to editors

The Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies, "the Group", is a diverse group of energy companies with operations in around 145 countries. The Group's businesses include oil and gas exploration and production; power generation; manufacturing, marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals and renewable energy projects including wind and solar power. The Group's parent companies are Royal Dutch Petroleum Company which has a 60% interest in the Group and The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company plc which has a 40% interest in the Group. Shares in the parent companies are traded on stock exchanges in Europe and the US.  On 28 October 2004 Royal Dutch Petroleum and Shell Transport and Trading announced proposals for their unification under a single company, Royal Dutch Shell plc, with one Board of Directors. 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 risk, 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 for a description of certain important factors, risks and uncertainties that may affect the Companies' businesses.  Neither of the Companies undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events or otherwise.

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.