News & Media releases

Royal Dutch Shell announces strategic review of selected downstream assets

11/01/2007

As part of an ongoing strategy of active investment and portfolio management, Royal Dutch Shell has announced a strategic review of a number of refining and petrochemicals feedstock assets.

This review will include, amongst other assets, Petit-Couronne and Reichstett-Vendenheim refineries and the Berre-l'Etang refinery site complex in France, with a combined capacity of around 300,000 barrels per day (Shell share 100%), and the Yabucoa petrochemical feedstock plant in Puerto Rico, which has a capacity of 79,000 barrels per day of fuels and ethylene feedstock (Shell share 100%).
 

Shell has previously announced that is also reviewing its portfolio in the Dominican Republic, where the Company has an interest in the 30,000 barrels per day Refidomsa refinery and storage terminal.
 

Rob Routs, Executive Director Downstream commented "The assets we're reviewing are important to their markets; and in fact a number of parties have approached us with an interest in purchasing them as going concerns. We're looking closely at how these assets can generate best value for our shareholders.  This review is part of our ongoing strategy to streamline and concentrate our Downstream portfolio." 
 

The Group has an active investment and disposals programme, which aims to create long-term shareholder value, and to optimize capital investment levels and cash allocation for the Company. These announcements further demonstrate the Company's commitment to actively manage the portfolio, in what is a leading global downstream business today.

Any sale resulting from the strategic review would be subject to staff consultation and regulatory approval. Shell will further update on these strategic reviews as they are concluded.

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.