Shell And Bechtel Create Intergen North America; New Venture To Develop Power Projects In U.s. And C

"Shell views power as a major commercial opportunity in the deregulating North American energy market," said Walter van de Vijver, president and chief executive officer of Shell Exploration and Production Company. "InterGen North America is positioned to become a major competitor in this market, which will complement Shell's ongoing activities to build a platform for growth throughout the gas and power business."

"With economic growth fueling more energy demand and older, less efficient power plants being retired, we see tremendous opportunities for InterGen North America," added Paul Unruh, president and chief operating officer of Bechtel Enterprises Holdings. "Our experience in developing, financing, permitting, constructing, and operating energy facilities will enable us to deliver clean, competitively priced power to this growing market."

The new InterGen North America operation will be headquartered in Houston. Carlos Riva, president and chief executive officer of InterGen, will also be the CEO of the new venture; a worldwide search for a president is underway. "We're very excited about this new venture," said Carlos Riva. "Much of our international experience is in highly deregulated markets and we look forward to leveraging that experience in the North American market," he added.

Shell's interest in InterGen North America is owned by subsidiaries of Shell Petroleum Inc., a holding company of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies. Shell companies have been actively building a downstream natural gas and power business in the U.S. and Canada, encompassing gas and power trading and marketing; financial and energy services; gas transportation and storage; natural gas liquids operations; and power generation. These companies have gas production of about 2.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), more than 7.5 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, and gas marketing volumes of about 9.2 Bcf/d.

The Bechtel organization is one of the world's premier engineering, construction, and project management companies. It has completed more than 15,000 projects in 140 countries on all seven continents, including more than 250,000 megawatts of generating capacity in over 450 power stations. Bechtel Enterprises Holdings, Inc., is Bechtel's financing, development, and ownership company, and will hold the interests in InterGen North America. Since 1990, Bechtel Enterprises has participated in arranging more than $14 billion in project financings; it is a leader in the privatized infrastructure market with interests in power generation, water and wastewater, transportation, pipelines, telecommunications, and other technology ventures.

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