THE HAGUE, The Netherlands,
March 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited
(SPDC), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch
Shell plc (Shell) (NYSE:RDS.A)(NYSE:RDS.B), has completed
the assignment of its interest in oil mining lease (OML) 29 and the
Nembe Creek Trunk Line (OML29 and NCTL) and related facilities in
the Eastern Niger Delta. Its interests in OML29 and the Nembe Creek
Trunk Line were assigned to Aiteo Eastern E&P Company Limited.
Total cash proceeds for Shell amount to some $1.7 billion.
This divestment is part of the strategic review of SPDC's
onshore portfolio and is in line with the Federal Government of
Nigeria's aim of developing
Nigerian companies in the country's upstream oil and gas
business.
Shell has been in Nigeria for
more than 50 years and remains committed to keeping a long-term
presence there - both onshore and offshore. Through SPDC and its
other Nigerian companies, Shell responsibly produces the oil and
gas needed to help fuel the economic and industrial growth that
generates wealth for the nation and jobs for Nigerians.
OML29 covers an area of 983 square kilometres and includes the
Nembe, Santa Barbara and Okoroba fields and related facilities. The
Nembe Creek Trunk Line is 100 kilometres long and has a capacity of
600 thousand barrels per day. It was commissioned in 2010 and
evacuates crude to the Bonny Crude Oil Terminal (BCOT). BCOT is not
part of the transaction and will remain owned & operated by the
SPDC JV. The divested infrastructure includes flow stations
together with associated gas infrastructure plus oil and gas
pipelines within the OML. The divested fields produced on average
around 43,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (100%) during
2014.
Total E&P Nigeria Limited and Nigerian Agip Oil Company
Limited have also assigned their interests of 10% and 5%
respectively in the lease, ultimately giving Aiteo Eastern E&P
Company Limited a 45% interest in OML29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk
Line.
All approvals have been received from the relevant authorities
of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Notes to editors:
SPDC is the operator of a joint venture between the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (55%), SPDC (30%), Total E&P
Nigeria Limited (10%) and Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited
(5%).
Cautionary note
The companies in which Royal Dutch
Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are
separate entities. In this announcement "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
announcement refer to companies in which 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 announcement, 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 ownership
interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after
exclusion of all third-party interest.
This announcement contains forward looking statements concerning
the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of
Shell and the Shell Group. 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 Shell and
the Shell Group 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", "goals", "intend", "may",
"objectives", "outlook", "plan", "probably", "project", "risks",
"seek", "should", "target", "will" and similar terms and phrases.
There are a number of factors that could affect the future
operations of Shell and the Shell Group and could cause those
results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward
looking statements included in this announcement, including
(without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and
natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell's products; (c)
currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e)
reserves 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 regulatory measures addressing climate change; (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 announcement 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 Shell's 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2014
(available at http://www.shell.com/investor and
http://www.sec.gov). These factors also should be considered by the
reader. Each forward looking statement speaks only as of the
date of this announcement, 25 March 2015. Neither Shell nor any of
its subsidiaries nor the Shell Group 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 announcement.
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SOURCE Royal Dutch Shell plc