Shell achieves production milestone at oil sands operations

CALGARY, Aug. 20, 2012 /CNW/ - Shell, as operator of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP), today announced that its oil sands operations have achieved the production milestone of 500 million barrels since production began in 2003.

"This is a tremendous achievement for Shell's oils sands business," said John Abbott, Executive Vice President, Heavy Oil. "This milestone is the result of the hard work and dedication of many thousands of employees and contractors. The oil sands are a secure, reliable source of energy for North America and an economic engine which drives employment, training and business development across Canada and beyond."

The success of the AOSP over the past decade is a result of the collective efforts of many thousands of men and women in roles spanning from operations, technical to commercial.  As Shell looks ahead, the organization will continue to require skilled people to help sustain and grow its operations.  With production capacity at the Athabasca Oil Sands Project at 255,000 barrels-per-day, Shell's focus is on further improving operational yields and reliability followed by adding capacity through debottlenecking.

"In less than a decade, we have built an oil sands mining and upgrading business capable of delivering over a quarter of a million barrels per day. As our business has grown, we have listened to the concerns of Canadians and the global community," said Abbott. "Our vision is to be the leading company in environmental performance. We recognize that we must do a better job in reducing the environmental impacts of our oil sands operations if we are to compete in a world rightly asking more of the energy it uses."

This year Shell, along with the AOSP joint venture owners, plan to take a final investment decision on advancing Quest, the proposed carbon capture and storage project. Quest would see more than one million tonnes of CO2 a year captured from the Scotford Upgrader near Edmonton, Alberta and safely stored over two kilometres underground.  If approved, beginning in 2015, the Quest project will help reduce the carbon footprint of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project.

Shell Canada Energy is 60 per cent owner and operator of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project along with Chevron Canada Limited (20 per cent) and Marathon Oil Corporation (20 per cent). The AOSP includes the Muskeg River Mine and Jackpine Mine, located near Fort McMurray, Alberta and the Scotford Upgrader, located near Edmonton, Alberta.

Royal Dutch Shell plc
Royal Dutch Shell plc is incorporated in England and Wales, has its headquarters in The Hague and is listed on the London, Amsterdam, and New York stock exchanges. Shell companies have operations in more than 90 countries and territories 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 and renewable energy projects. For further information, visit www.shell.com.

Shell Canada Ltd
Shell has been operating in Canada since 1911 and employs approximately 8,000 people across the country. A leading manufacturer, distributor and marketer of refined petroleum products, Shell produces natural gas, natural gas liquids and bitumen, and is Canada's largest producer of sulphur. Shell is one of Canada's oil sands developers and operates the Athabasca Oil Sands Project on behalf of the joint venture partners.

Cautionary note
The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this release "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 release 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 release, 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 24% shareholding in Woodside Petroleum Ltd.) ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

This release 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 release, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for the Shell'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 measures as a result of climate changes; (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 release 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 20-F for the year ended 31 December, 2010 (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 release, 20 August 2012. 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 release. There can be no assurance that dividend payments will match or exceed those set out in this release in the future, or that they will be made at all.

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 release, such as resources and oil in place, that SEC's guidelines 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, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov. You can also obtain these forms from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.

SOURCE: Shell Canada Limited