© Times of Oman 2011¬

On November 23, Shell announced the arrival of its first shipment of gas-to-liquid GTL base oil at the Port of Houston. The high-quality product, the first from the Qatar-based Pearl GTL plant to reach the Americas, will be stored at a hub in Houston and routed to Shell Lubricants’ GTL-enabled blending facilities throughout the U.S.

“This is a very important milestone for our industry,” said Byron Elton, CEO of Carbon Sciences. “Shell has clearly demonstrated the commercial viability of taking natural gas from the Middle East, using GTL technology to transform it into liquids and shipping those high value products to the U.S. The next step will be to cut out the foreign supply and use our vast reserves of natural gas here at home to make liquid transportation fuels, such as gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel.”

Mr. Elton continued, “Shell’s Qatar operation is a real money maker and provides a road map for developing large GTL plants. At the scale that Shell operates, it must focus on very large fields, which account for only a small number of gas fields in the world. Its particular GTL technology does not scale down economically for small and medium sized gas fields. This is the market opportunity that we are addressing with our GTL solution.”

Carbon Sciences is developing a proprietary catalyst for the dry reforming of methane into synthetic or syngas, the first step in making liquid transportation fuels from natural gas. The catalyst and process offer important advantages over existing catalysis and technologies. Firstly, CO2 is used as part of the carbon feed in lieu of natural gas, reducing feedstock cost. Secondly, the catalyst is comprised of inexpensive and abundant metals. Thirdly, it is anticipated that it will involve low steam usage, making it a less expensive, and more energy-efficient process. Fourthly, the overall process is expected to be closely CO2-neutral, making it much more environmentally friendly than current reforming/GTL technologies.

About Carbon Sciences Inc.

Carbon Sciences, based in Santa Barbara, California, has developed a breakthrough technology to make liquid transportation fuels from natural gas. We believe our technology will enable the world to reduce its dependence on petroleum by cost effectively using natural gas to produce cleaner and greener liquid fuels for immediate use in the existing transportation infrastructure. Although found in abundant supply at affordable prices in the U.S. and throughout the world, natural gas cannot be used directly in cars, trucks, trains and planes without a massive overhaul of the existing transportation infrastructure. Innovating at the forefront of chemical engineering, Carbon Sciences offers a highly scalable, clean-tech gas-to-liquids (GTL) process to transform natural gas into transportation fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. The key to this cost-effective process is a breakthrough methane dry reforming catalyst that consumes carbon dioxide. Our proprietary catalyst is now undergoing rigorous commercial testing to meet the needs of the natural gas industry and will be available for use in pre-feasibility studies of new GTL plants. To learn more about Carbon Sciences’ breakthrough technology, please visit www.carbonsciences.com and follow us Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/carbonsciences.

Safe Harbor Statement

Matters discussed in this press release contain statements that look forward within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “may,” “intend,” “expect” and similar expressions identify such statements that look forward. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the statements that look forward contained herein, and while expected, there is no guarantee that we will attain the aforementioned anticipated developmental milestones. These statements that look forward are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with: the impact of economic, competitive and other factors affecting the Company and its operations, markets, product, and distributor performance, the impact on the national and local economies resulting from terrorist actions, and U.S. actions subsequently; and other factors detailed in reports filed by the Company.

Also making its debut today is Shell and Vivo Lubricants, which will manufacture and blend Shell branded lubricants for distribution across Africa. It will market and sell lubricants through exclusive Master Distribution Agreements with Vivo Energy companies.

Honor Dainhi, COO and acting CEO of Vivo Energy said: “Africa is a true growth market for energy, and her customers deserve a dedicated, focused energy products and service provider. Over time, we want Vivo Energy, and Shell and Vivo Lubricants to be known as the most respected energy businesses in Africa. This means investing in key African markets for long-term sustainable growth and being a leader in safety and the environment. For our customers, this means access to the same high quality Shell-branded products but with an even greater focus on the customer experience. For our employees, this means building a culture of performance under African leadership in each country, accountable for local business growth.”

The launch of the two companies marks the first wave of in-country completions in a deal first announced on February 19th, 2011.  Under the terms of the deal, which include regulatory approvals, Vitol and Helios are acquiring the majority of Shell’s shareholding in most of its downstream businesses in Africa. It is envisaged that when the final wave of the deal completes in 2012, Vivo Energy, and Shell and Vivo Lubricants will market Shell-branded fuels and lubricants in 14 countries across the continent and will employ around 2500 people.

On final completion of the transaction as proposed, Vivo Energy will operate more than 1300 retail stations across Africa under the Shell brand and will have access to around 1.2 million cubic metres of storage. Shell and Vivo Lubricants will have blending capacity of around 120,000 metric tonnes at plants in eight countries, producing Shell branded lubricants.

Vitol and Helios each own 40% of Vivo Energy, with Shell holding the remaining 20%. Shell and Vivo Lubricants is 50% owned by Shell and 50% owned by Vitol and Helios.

Shell, Vitol and Helios will now focus on securing the necessary regulatory and other approvals for the completion of this transaction in all the remaining countries during 2012.

The Vitol Group was founded in 1966 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since then the company has grown significantly to become a major participant in world energy markets and is now one of the world’s largest independent energy traders. Its trading portfolio includes crude oil, oil products, LNG, natural gas, coal, power and carbon emissions. Vitol trades with all the major national oil companies, the integrated oil majors and the independent refiners and traders. Globally Vitol trades over 5.5 million barrels of crude oil and products per day.

In addition to its trading business, and its 50% share in the storage and terminals business, VTTI, with 11 terminals on five continents, Vitol has an exploration and production business which includes interests in Ghana, Cameroon, Philippines, Kazakhstan, Russia and Azerbaijan. It also currently owns and operates over 100kbd in refining assets. Further details on Vitol are available on www.vitol.com

When developing Shell Tellus EE, it was essential that the lubricant’s ability to contribute towards a machine’s energy efficiency was combined with the high performance characteristics expected from a Shell Tellus product.

Dennis Woodley, Shell Hydraulics Product Application Specialist