THE WALL STREET JOURNAL/DOW JONES NEWSWIRES: Shell To Form Research Center To Boost Yields (ShellNews.net)

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

November 1, 2004 12:04 p.m.

AMSTERDAM -- Royal Dutch/Shell (RD, SC) unit Shell International Exploration and Production BV said Monday it plans to form a research center to develop technologies to boost the yield of oil and natural gas fields.

The center will be formed with the help of Dutch University TU Delft and Dutch research institute TNO.

In a press release, Shell and the research centers said "a smarter way of producing oil and gas can increase production per field by 5 to 10 percentage points."

The center will be called ISAPP. The company and both institutions are planning a press conference Thursday to elaborate on the plans.

-By Stefan Simons, Dow Jones Newswires; 31 20 6260770; stefan.simons@dowjones.com