The Law Firm of Lasky & Rifkind, Ltd. Announces Class Action Lawsuit Against Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and The Shell Transport and Trading Company, PLC.

Business Editors/Legal Writers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 28, 2004

Lasky & Rifkind, Ltd., a law firm with offices in New York and Chicago, announces that a lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, on behalf of persons who purchased or otherwise acquired publicly traded securities of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and The Shell Transport and Trading Company, PLC ("Royal Dutch" or the "Company") (NYSE:RD) between December 3, 1999 and January 9, 2004, inclusive, (the "Class Period"). The lawsuit was filed against Royal Dutch and Shell Transport, Shell Petroleum N.V., The Shell Petroleum Ltd., Maarten van der Bergh, Judy Boynton, Malcom Brinded, S.L. Miller, Harry J.M. Roels, Paul D. Skinner, M. Moody-Stuart, Jeroen van der Veer and Philip R. Watts.

If you are a member of this class and wish to view a copy of a complaint and join this class action, please e-mail us at [e-mail] and request a copy of the complaint and a plaintiff certification. If you are a member of the Class, you may move the Court no later than March 26, 2004 to serve as a lead plaintiff for the Class. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. However, if you choose to remain an absent class member, unless and until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel.

The complaint alleges that Defendants violated sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Defendants deliberately violated accounting rules and guidelines relating to oil and gas reserves that resulted in a 20% overstatement of oil and gas reserves, the eventual disclosure of damaged purchasers of the security. More specifically, Royal Dutch had classified and reported in SEC filings and other documents, certain reserves as "proved reserves" from the Gorgon joint venture and various projects in Nigeria. In fact, unknown to investors, the reserves did not meet industry and SEC requirements necessary to be classified as "proved", thereby materially inflating a key measure of the companies' financial position.

On January 9, 2004, Royal Dutch announced that it was going to write-down its proved oil and gas reserves by 20% or 3.9 billion barrels. Following the announcement, Royal Dutch ADR's fell approximately 7.9% from $52.76 to $48.61.

If you bought Royal Dutch securities between December 3, 1999 and January 9, 2004, inclusive, and would like to obtain information about the lawsuit, then you are invited to call 800-495-1868 to speak with an advisor.