22 Members of the Nigerian Academia Conduct Research in Shell Sabbatical/ Internship Programme

Eight professors and 14 post-graduate research interns commenced their programmes on Friday at SPDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, seeking to build industry knowledge and understanding in such fields as biodiversity, petroleum engineering, geophysics, environmental impact assessment, community and occupational health, remediation, marketing, and oil and gas exploration. Theys are from the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun; University of Nigeria, Nsukka; University of Ibadan; University of Benin; University of Port Harcourt; Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island; University of Lagos; Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt; Delta State University, Abraka; Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta; Alex Ekwueme University, Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo; and the Federal University of Technology, Akure.

General Manager, External Relations, SPDC, Mr. Igo Weli, said: “The research and internship programmes form key aspect of our effort to contribute to the development of higher education in Nigeria. It is a mutually beneficial relationship. SPDC obtains specialised and cost-effective services from the professors and senior lecturers, while they, in turn, acquire industry experience and exposure to new technologies that can be ploughed back to the university curriculum.”

For a period of one year, the professors on sabbatical would conduct research in identified areas and share their findings with SPDC for application in the industry. Part of the internship programme involves Master’s  and Doctoral  degree students who are also offered one-year placements to acquire work experience in SPDC. The other set of interns are from the SPDC Centre of Excellence in Geosciences and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Benin, who spend six months, enabling them to gain practical experience and be exposed to the work culture and ethics of Shell Companies in Nigeria.

Recruitment for sabbatical and research internship scheme begins with advertisements in national and local newspapers in March with selection interviews for shortlisted candidates in July each year.

Only in November 2018, SPDCits long history of supporting education in Nigeria through scholarships and other initiatives when it hosted the maiden SPDC Education Day in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. At the event, SPDC awarded 10 post-graduate annual scholarships to students from Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta States to study engineering and geosciences at top universities in the United Kingdom, building a talent pipeline within host communities. Total number of beneficiaries since inception in 2010 is 80 at a cost of about $5.6m. Also, 40 engineering and geosciences graduates received hands-on training through a one-year internship programme organised by the SPDC JV and the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria, a group of indigenous oilfield service companies. Other scholarships valued at over N1.3 billion were awarded to 1,035 beneficiaries on that day by SPDC and its JV Partners.

Bamidele Odugbesan
Media Relations Manager
Softphone:  +234 807 022 8045

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 over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Companies over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to “joint ventures” and companies over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as “associates”. In this announcement, joint ventures and associates may also be 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 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’’, ‘‘goals’’, ‘‘intend’’, ‘‘may’’, ‘‘objectives’’, ‘‘outlook’’, ‘‘plan’’, ‘‘probably’’, ‘‘project’’, ‘‘risks’’, “schedule”, ‘‘seek’’, ‘‘should’’, ‘‘target’’, ‘‘will’’ 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 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 risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell’s 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2018 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this announcement and should be considered by the reader.  Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement, January 9, 2019. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc 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 announcement.

We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this announcement that United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our 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.