Schatz & Nobel, P.C. Announces Class Action Lawsuit Against Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and the Shell Transport and Trading Co

Schatz & Nobel, P.C. Announces Class Action Lawsuit Against Royal Dutch
Petroleum Company and the Shell Transport and Trading Company, PLC. 


HARTFORD, Conn., Feb. 18  /PRNewswire/ -- A lawsuit seeking class action status
has been filed in the United States District Court for the District of New
Jersey on behalf of all persons who purchased the publicly traded securities of
Royal Dutch Petroleum Company  ("Royal Dutch") and/or The Shell Transport and
Trading Company, PLC  ("Shell Transport") (collectively "Royal Dutch/Shell" or
the "Company") from December 3, 1999 through January 9, 2004, inclusive (the
"Class Period").

Plaintiffs are represented by the law firm of Schatz & Nobel, P.C., which has
significant experience prosecuting class actions onbehalf of investors. If you
wish to discuss this action or have any questions, please contact attorneys
Andrew M. Schatz or Nancy A. Kulesa at [phone], or by e-mail at .  For
more information about Schatz & Nobel, P.C. and class action cases, please visit
our website: http://www.snlaw.net/.

The Complaint alleges that Royal Dutch/Shell and certain of its officers and
directors issued materially false and misleading statements. Specifically,
defendants classified and reported, in SEC filings and other public documents,
certain oil and gas reserves from a project called the Gorgon Joint Venture in
Australia and from various projects in Nigeria as "proved reserves". Unbeknownst
to investors, such projects did not meet the SEC or industry standards required
to be classified as "proved".  Plaintiff further alleges that these material
misrepresentations artificially inflated the price of Royal Dutch/Shell during
the Class Period.

On January 9, 2004, Royal Dutch/Shell announced that it would write down its
"proved" oil and gas reserves by 20%.  On this news, Royal Dutch Shell ADRs fell
7.87% from $52.76 to $48.61 and Shell Transport ADRs fell 6.96% from $44.81 to
$41.69.

Plaintiffs seek to recover damages on behalf of all Class Members.  If you
purchased or otherwise acquired Royal Dutch/Shell from December 3, 1999 through
January 9, 2004 inclusive, and wish to act as a lead plaintiff, you may move the
Court to act in that capacity not later than March 26, 2004.  If you wish to
discuss yourrights as lead plaintiff or as a class member, please contact
Schatz & Nobel, P.C. toll-free at [phone], or by e-mail at . 

DATASOURCE: Schatz & Nobel, P.C.



CONTACT:  Nancy A. Kulesa of Schatz & Nobel, P.C., [phone],





Web site:  http://www.snlaw.net/

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