Shell sets up new Asian unit

Shell sets up new Asian unit

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Units of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group
(RD) in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines have
established a group to coordinate their refining, supply and
trading activities, a Singapore-based Shell spokeswoman said
yesterday.

Shell's Singapore-based South East Asia Coordination Group was
set up in January 1998, the spokeswoman said, confirming an
article in yesterday's edition of Singapore's Business Times.

The group "is responsible for coordinating the operations of
the Shell refineries in South East Asia in areas such as joint
crude purchasing, refinery optimization and coordination of
shutdown plans," she said.

The spokeswoman said the group won't make actual crude
purchases for the Shell refineries - which remains the
responsibility of Shell International Eastern Trading Co.