In this Review “Group” is defined as Royal Dutch Shell together with all of its consolidated subsidiaries. The expressions “Shell”, “Group”, “Shell Group” and “Royal Dutch Shell” are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to the Group or Group companies in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to Group companies 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. The expression “Group companies” as used in this Review refers 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 the Group has significant influence but not control are referred to as “associated companies” or “associates” and companies in which the Group has joint control are referred to as “jointly controlled entities”. In this Review, associates and jointly controlled entities are also referred to as “equity accounted investments”.
The expression “operating companies” as used in this Review refers to those Group and equity accounted investments that are engaged in the exploration for and extraction of oil and natural gas and delivery of these hydrocarbons to market, the marketing and trading of natural gas and electricity, the conversion of natural gas to liquids and the refining of crude oil into products including fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industry segments such as Hydrogen and Renewables. The term “Group interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect equity interest held by the Group in a venture, partnership or company (i.e., after exclusion of all third-party interests).
Except as otherwise specified, the figures shown in the tables in this Review represent those in respect of Group companies only, without deduction of minority interests. However, where figures are given specifically for oil production (net of royalties in kind), natural gas production available for sale, and both the refinery processing intake and total oil product sales volumes, the term “Group share” is used for convenience to indicate not only the volumes to which Group companies are entitled (without deduction in respect of minority interests) but also the portion of the volumes of equity accounted investments to which Group companies are entitled or which is proportionate to the Group interest in those companies.
Except as otherwise stated, the Financial Statements contained in this Review have been prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 1985, Article 4 of the International Accounting Standards (IAS) Regulation and with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as adopted by the European Union. As applied to Royal Dutch Shell, there are no material differences with IFRS as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.
The Consolidated Financial Statements of Royal Dutch Shell and its subsidiaries have been prepared using the carryover basis to account for the Unification and on the basis that the resulting structure was in place throughout the periods presented.
Except as otherwise noted, the figures shown in this Review are stated in US dollars. As used herein, all references to “dollars” or “$” are to the US currency.
The Summary Operating and Financial Review, an extract of the “full OFR”, and other sections of this Review contain 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 Review, 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 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, project delay or advancement, approvals and cost estimates; and (m) changes in trading conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in this Review 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. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this Review. 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 Review.
This Review contains references to Shell’s website. These references are for the readers’ convenience only. Shell is not incorporating by reference any information posted on www.shell.com.
Documents on display
Documents concerning Royal Dutch Shell, or its predecessors for reporting purposes, which are referred to in this Review, have been filed with the SEC and may be examined or copied at the public reference facility maintained by the SEC at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington D.C. 20549, USA. All the SEC filings made electronically by the Group are available to the public at the SEC website www.sec.gov (commission file number 1-32575). This Review, a Dutch language version of it, and the Annual Report and Form 20-F are available, free of charge, at www.shell.com/annualreport or at the offices of Royal Dutch Shell in The Hague, the Netherlands and London, UK.
The Annual Review and Summary Financial Statements is an abridged version of the Annual Report and Form 20-F. For further information consult the full unabridged document at www.shell.com/annualreport or request a free copy.
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 Review, such as “resources”, that the SEC’s guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in filings with the SEC. US Investors are urged to read and 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.