From AFP: “Supermajor oil producer Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it is replacing reserves faster than depletion, despite the sale of a major asset in Russia.

The company said in an annual report released today that it increased reserves by 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, while it produced 1.2 billion barrels, yielding a replacement ratio of 124 percent.

The increased reserves came about despite the sale of a major asset in Russia at a cost of about $20 billion.

The extra reserves came from projects in Australia, Norway, Qatar and the United States, the company said. If oil sand production were included in the statistic, the replacement ratio would rise from 124 percent to 127 percent.

“This is an unprecedented phase of activity for Shell in a new energy landscape,” said CEO Jeroen van der Veer (Agence France-Presse, March 17).