Shell moves forward on new GOM development at Stones

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC - Shell moves forward on new GOM development at Stones

PR Newswire

London, May 8

Shell moves forward on new Gulf of Mexico development at Stones

8th May 2013, The Hague. Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell) today announces a finalinvestment decision in the Stones ultra-deepwater project, a Gulf of Mexico oiland gas development expected to host the deepest production facility in theworld. This decision sets in motion the construction and fabrication of afloating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel and subseainfrastructure. The development will start with two subsea production wellstied back to the FPSO vessel, followed later by six additional productionwells. This first phase of development is expected to have annual peakproduction of 50,000 boe/d from more than 250 million boe of recoverableresources. The Stones field has significant upside potential and is estimatedto contain over 2 billion boe of oil in place.

"This important investment demonstrates our ongoing commitment to usher in thenext generation of deepwater developments, which will deliver more productiongrowth in the Americas," said John Hollowell, Executive Vice President forDeepwater, Shell Upstream Americas. "We will continue our leadership in safe,innovative deepwater operations to help meet the growing demand for energy inthe US."

The Stones field is located in 9,500 feet (2,896 meters) of water,approximately 200 miles (320 kilometers) southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana,and was discovered in 2005. The project encompasses eight US Federal OuterContinental Shelf lease blocks in the Gulf of Mexico's Lower Tertiary geologictrend. Shell has been one of the pioneers in the Lower Tertiary, establishingfirst production in the play from its Perdido Development.

An FPSO design was selected to safely develop and produce this ultra-deepwaterdiscovery, while addressing the relative lack of infrastructure, seabedcomplexity, and unique reservoir properties. With an FPSO, tankers willtransport oil from the Stones FPSO to US refineries, and gas will betransported by pipeline.

The launch of the Stones development is a key milestone as Shell continues togrow deepwater exploration and development in the Gulf of Mexico, having madesignificant progress recently on the Mars-B development project with thearrival of the Olympus tension leg platform. Shell is also in the conceptselection phase for the Appomattox and Vito discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico.

Shell holds 100% interest and will operate the Stones development.

EDITOR'S NOTES:

Royal Dutch Shell plcRoyal Dutch Shell plc is incorporated in England and Wales, has itsheadquarters in The Hague and is listed on the London, Amsterdam and New Yorkstock exchanges. Shell companies have operations in more than 70 countries andterritories 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 andrenewable energy projects. For further information, visit www.shell.com.

Cautionary note

The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly ownsinvestments are separate entities. In this press release "Shell", "Shell group"and "Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes used for convenience where references aremade to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, thewords "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general orto those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no usefulpurpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies.``Subsidiaries'', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in thispress release refer to companies in which Royal Dutch Shell either directly orindirectly has control, by having either a majority of the voting rights or theright to exercise a controlling influence. The companies in which Shell hassignificant influence but not control are referred to as "associated companies"or "associates" and companies in which Shell has joint control are referred toas "jointly controlled entities". In this press release, associates and jointlycontrolled entities are also referred to as "equity-accounted investments". Theterm "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/orindirect (for example, through our 23% shareholding in Woodside Petroleum Ltd.)ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, afterexclusion of all third-party interest.

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning the financialcondition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. Allstatements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed tobe, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements offuture expectations that are based on management's current expectations andassumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that couldcause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from thoseexpressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include,among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal DutchShell to market risks and statements expressing management's expectations,beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. Theseforward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrasessuch 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 affectthe future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results todiffer materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statementsincluded in this press release, including (without limitation): (a) pricefluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for theShell's products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and productionresults; (e) reserve estimates; (f) loss of market share and industrycompetition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated withthe identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets,and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk ofdoing business in developing countries and countries subject to internationalsanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments includingregulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financialmarket conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks,including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms ofcontracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval ofprojects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes intrading conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in this pressrelease are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statementscontained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place unduereliance on forward-looking statements. Additional factors that may affectfuture results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's 20-F for the year endedDecember 31, 2012 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). Thesefactors also should be considered by the reader. Each forward-lookingstatement speaks only as of the date of this press release, May 8, 2013.Neither Royal Dutch Shell nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligationto publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of newinformation, future events or other information. In light of these risks,results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from theforward-looking statements contained in this press release.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) permits oil and gascompanies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only proved reserves thata company has demonstrated by actual production or conclusive formation teststo be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operatingconditions. We may have used certain terms in this press release that SEC'sguidelines 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, FileNo 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov. You can also obtain theseforms from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.