(Oct. 1, 2001) Houston, TX

Shell Trading announced today that its affiliate Coral Power, LLC has reached an agreement with Energy Services Group, Inc, (ESG) to provide electronic data communications for Coral's entry into the Texas Electric Choice Program. The ESG services will pave the way for Coral to begin electricity sales to industrial and large end-use customers in January 2002.

Coral is already an established natural gas marketer serving large energy users in Texas and throughout the U.S. and Canada. Coral's plans to begin selling electricity to large energy users in Texas were unaffected by Shell Energy Services Company's recent decision to discontinue electricity sales at the residential and small commercial level. Shell sees opportunities in the industrial and large end-use market segments developing at a faster pace than those in residential and small commercial markets.

Coral, which was licensed as an electricity marketer by the Public Utility Commission of Texas in June 2001, has contracted with ESG for electronic communications testing and certification required by ERCOT as a prerequisite to servicing customers. In preparation for the ERCOT certification, Coral is actively taking steps to build the generation capacity under its control, which currently totals almost 1,000 megawatts.

"Entering the deregulated Texas electricity market is a natural extension of Coral's proven capability to provide the energy and services needed for long-term relationships with industrial and other large end-use customers," said Debbie Wernet, Coral President. "Shell remains committed to our efforts to serve this important market segment."

"We are extremely pleased to be working with Coral Power in the Texas Electric Choice program," said Nate Owen, ESG President. "We look forward to establishing a solid foundation with Coral in Texas."