Yokohama, Japan - JGC Corporation has been awarded a contract from Shell Global Solutions International (a Royal Dutch Shell/Group affiliate company) for the Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) services of a large-scale commercial Gas to Liquids (GTL) plant with a production capacity of 140,000 bpd to be located in Qatar. Delivery is scheduled for May 2005. In executing the contract, JGC will make full use of M.W. Kellogg Ltd., which is a joint venture company in London between JGC and KBR.

The FEED services contract was commissioned after Shell and Qatar Petroleum reached a Heads of Agreement in October 2003 on undertaking the GTL project. Shell plans to start GTL production in Qatar in 2009.

JGC has a long-term relationship with Shell in which it has contributed to the implementation of LNG plant projects and to the world's first commercial GTL plant of its type, in Bintulu, Malaysia, in 1993 for Shell MDS Malaysia, using Shell's proprietary GTL technology, the Shell Middle Distillate Synthesis (SMDS) process.

After competitive tendering in 2001, JGC contributed to developing the pre-FEED for Shell's second generation world-scale GTL plants.

Bolstered by an impressive record of achievements and experience, JGC is committed in its sales activities to the development of GTL projects for their efficient production of clean energy.

JGC Corporation is an international engineering and construction company based in Yokohama, Japan, having multiple operating centers and executing large-scale projects worldwide. Established in 1928, JGC has a strong background in lump-sum turnkey operations of both hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon related projects, with annual sales turnover of approximately $3 billion.

The Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies ("the Group") is a diverse group of energy companies with operations in around 145 countries. The Group's businesses include oil and gas exploration and production; power generation; manufacturing, marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals and renewable energy projects including wind and solar power. The Group's parent companies are Royal Dutch Petroleum Company having a 60% interest in the Group, and The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company plc having a 40% interest in the Group. Shares in the parent companies are traded on stock exchanges in Europe and the USA. For further information, visit http://www.shell.com.