SHELL BRINGS LUBRICANTS TECHNOLOGY LECTURE ON INNOVATIONS IN THE FACE OF THE ENERGY CHALLENGE TO IIT MADRAS

A panel of industry experts discussed the role of co-engineering and innovation in the development of fuel efficient lubricants

Following the success of the first two editions of Shell’s Global Lecture Series at Imperial College, London, and Tsinghua University, Beijing, Shell brought together automotive industry experts at the third edition of the Shell Lubricants Technology Lecture today in India at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai. Here speakers emphasised cross-industry co-engineering as the fastest route to optimising fuel efficiency in lubricants for vehicles. The event was attended by leading automotive and engineering experts in India as well as IIT Madras faculty and students.

Dr. Selda Gunsel, Vice President of Shell Global Commercial Technology and one of the speakers at the event said, “At Shell, we believe lubricants – alongside new fuel and engine technologies – have a unique and vital role to play in meeting the global energy challenge. Our research shows that fuel economy can be improved by using the most suitable quality lubricant for an engine, and that even higher savings can be achieved when the lubricants provider and the automotive original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, work together to develop bespoke products for a particular vehicle. This involves long-term co-engineering projects within the industry.”

Co-engineering was further reinforced by Professor Gordon Murray, renowned Formula One and McLaren designer as well as the Chief Executive Officer and Technical Director for Gordon Murray Designs (GMD): “At GMD we are developing innovative cars that challenge every aspect of car design concepts, including lubrication. A lubricant is a vital engine component that has more potential than most for improving a vehicle’s fuel economy and cutting its CO2 emissions. That is why we have been working closely with Shell as technical partners since 2010. We share the same drive for fuel efficiency and innovation in an energy challenged world.”

Nitin Prasad, Country Head, Shell Lubricants India, inaugurated the event. He said, “The Shell Lubricants Technology Lecture is a great platform to collaborate across media, academia and industry on how lubricants can be used as a valuable design parameter in the automotive industry as opposed to an afterthought. I am very glad to see such an impressive turn out and hope we can continue to share knowledge delivering greater fuel efficiency and lower emissions in the Indian automotive industry.”

Professor Krishnan Balasubramanian, Dean of Industrial Consultancy & Sponsored Research at IIT Madras said, “We are proud to host the Shell Lubricants Technology Lecture at IIT Madras for industry experts who are at the forefront of automotive technology in India. Education and practical experience go hand-in-hand and this type of technical knowledge sharing is vital for the development of India’s future engineers.”
Other distinguished speakers at the Shell Lubricants Technology Lecture included Dr. Tim Leverton, Head of Advanced & Product Engineering at Tata Motors; Rick Finn, Corporate Strategy Team, Infineum.

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS

GLOBAL LECTURE SERIES

• The recurring theme for the Global Lecture Series is the energy challenge and co-engineering in lubrication to improve fuel efficiency.
• The inaugural lecture of the Shell Lubricants Global Lecture Series was given by Dr. Selda Gunsel and Professor Gordon Murray at Imperial College, London in November 2012.
• The lecture at Tsinghua University, Beijing was held in October 2013. This was after the research and development partnership announced by Shell in 2011 with the State Key Laboratory of Tribology in Tsinghua University. The partnership focuses on work to deepen the understanding of lubrication on textured surfaces.

GORDON MURRAY DESIGN AND SHELL TECHNICAL PARTNERSHIP

• In 2011, collaboration between research teams at Shell and GMD led to the development of an innovative concept engine lubricant achieving a 6.5 per cent improvement in fuel efficiency for the GMD T.25 design.
• This was a significant step change compared to the improvements of around 2.5 per cent achieved in typical fuel economy lubricant development programmes in EU urban cycle compared with 5W-30.
• The T.25 represents a major breakthrough. It is a city car designed to have world-leading efficiency
• and ultra-low emissions. The car is also optimised for performance, cost, safety, usability, recyclability and ease of assembly, which gives it many key advantages.

ABOUT SHELL LUBRICANTS

The term ‘Shell Lubricants’ collectively refers to Shell Group companies engaged in the lubricants business. Shell sells a wide variety of lubricants to meet customer needs across a range of applications. These include consumer motoring, heavy-duty transport, mining, power generation and general engineering. Shell’s portfolio of lubricant brands includes Shell Helix, Shell Rimula, and Shell Spirax. We are active across the full lubricant supply chain. We manufacture base oils in eight plants, we blend base oils with additives to make finished lubricants in almost 70 plants, and we distribute, market and sell lubricants in over 100 countries.

We have more experts talking to more customers than any other lubricants supplier. We have over 350 technical support specialists and 1,000 sales professionals working with customers every day. We offer a wide range of services in addition to our products, including Shell LubeMatch, a market leading online tool that matches lubricants to vehicles and equipments, and Shell LubeAnalyst, an early warning system that enables our business customers to monitor the condition of their equipment and lubricant, helping to save money on maintenance.
Shell’s world-class technology is applied in our products and technological collaborations. We have four leading lubricants research centres in Germany, the USA, and Japan (in a joint venture with Showa Shell) with more than 200 scientists and engineers dedicated to lubricants research and development.

We have 150 + patent series for lubricants, base oils and greases. One of the ways we push the boundaries of lubricant technology is by working closely with top motor racing teams such as Scuderia Ferrari and Penske Racing. These technical partnerships enable us to expand our knowledge of lubrication science and transfer cutting-edge technology from the racetrack to our commercial products.

ABOUT SHELL LUBRICANTS INDIA

Shell is one of the most diversified international oil company in India’s energy sector with nearly US$1 billion invested. It is a major private sector supplier of crude products and chemicals to India. With over 3000 staff in the country, Shell has a significant Technology center, a financial business services center and operates an LNG receiving and re-gasification terminal. It also has a downstream business marketing fuels, lubricants and specialty products. Shell Lubricants’ India operation is part of Shell’s long-term commitment to India and its support for the country’s increasing energy needs. Shell Lubricants’ customers in India include Wartsila, Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Ford and Thermax.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Edelman India – Rakhi Aurora, [email protected], +919899138902
Shell India – Gurmeet Kaur, [email protected], +911244771519
Shell Lubricants Global – Mallika Desai, [email protected], +6597292377

CAUTIONARY NOTE

The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this release “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 release refer 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 Shell has significant influence but not control are referred to as “associated companies” or “associates” and companies in which Shell has joint control are referred to as “jointly controlled entities”. In this release, associates and jointly controlled entities are also referred to as “equity-accounted investments”. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect (for example, through our 23% shareholding in Woodside Petroleum Ltd.) ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest. This release 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’’, ‘‘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 release, 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 potential litigation and regulatory measures as a result of climate changes; (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 release 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 factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell’s 20-F for the year ended 31 December, 2013 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov – opens in new window). These factors also should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this release, 10 February 2014. 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 release. There can be no assurance that dividend payments will match or exceed those set out in this release in the future, or that they will be made at all. We use certain terms in this release, such as resources, that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in 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 – opens in new window. You can also obtain these forms from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC- 0330