Qatar Petroleum, Shell and PETROCHINA sign new Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement

The agreement was signed in Doha by His Excellency Abdulla bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry, Peter Voser, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell plc, and Mr. Zhao Dong, Chief Financial Officer of PetroChina International Investment Company Limited.

Under the agreement, the partners will jointly explore for natural gas in Block D. Block D covers an area of 8,089 square kilometres onshore and offshore Qatar and is located close to Ras Laffan.

The Block D concession is for pre-Khuff geological intervals. The overlying Khuff horizon contains the super-giant North Field. Part of the Block D concession extends beneath the North Field.

The total term of this agreement is 30 years and starts with a five year First Exploration Period. During the exploration period, Shell and PetroChina will implement a work programme including exploration technical studies, 2D and 3D seismic acquisition, processing, re-processing and interpretation, and drilling a number of exploration wells to the pre-Khuff formation.

Shell, as operator, will hold a 75 per cent equity share with PetroChina holding a 25 per cent share.

In a success case, Shell and PetroChina will produce the natural gas under Qatar Petroleum’s supervision. Under the agreement QP will be the off-taker of any potential gas produced.

His Excellency Minister Al-Attiyah said: “This new agreement is part of QP’s plans to implement the wise policy and guidance of HH The Emir, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, to increase the country’s hydrocarbon reserves base, oil and gas production potential and further strengthen Qatar’s economy. This is the second Qatar agreement dedicated to exploring hydrocarbons from the deep pre-Khuff reservoirs. QP is also preparing for additional pre-Khuff reservoir exploration tenders in the near future. Shell is a major investor in the development of Qatar’s proven gas resources. I am delighted that they will now invest in exploration. Also, I welcome PetroChina a new investor in Qatar.”

Mr. Peter Voser said: “We are developing significant volumes of Qatar’s proven resources through our two giant projects with Qatar Petroleum, Pearl GTL and Qatargas 4. I am pleased that we now have an opportunity, with PetroChina, to explore for new natural gas resources that could be used to further Qatar’s economic development. This agreement makes the most of Shell’s pre-Khuff exploration experience in the region and Qatar Petroleum’s unrivalled expertise in the State of Qatar.”

Mr. Zhao Dong said: “We already enjoy a relationship with Qatar Petroleum and Shell and I am delighted that this cooperation is now extending to work within Qatar itself. China is an important downstream market and PetroChina is keen to build upstream partnerships with major resource holders like Qatar.”

Enquiries:

Qatar Petroleum
Mr. Sultan Al-Abdulla
+974 4946600

Qatar Shell
Mr. Simon Buerk
+974 6788447

Petrochina
Mr. Jia Yong
+86-10-58551568

Shell Media Relations:
International, UK, European Press
+31 70 377 3600
The Netherlands Press
+31 70 377 8750

Shell Investor Relations:
The Hague Tjerk Huysinga
+31 70 377 3996 / +44 207 934 3856

USA Harold Hatchett
+1 713 241 1019

Cautionary Statement

The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this document “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 document 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 document, 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 document 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 document, 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 document 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 Annual Report and Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2009 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These factors also should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this press release, 16 May, 2010. 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 document.