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Stock Exchange Annnouncement 31 March 2006

BG Group achieves 100% success in Norway's 19th Licensing Round


BG Group welcomes today's announcement that it has been awarded eight new licences in the Norwegian 19th Licensing Round. BG Group will be operator in five of these licences and is the most successful company of all the applicants in this round.

The awards cover five licences in the Norwegian Sea and three licences in the Barents Sea.

Today's announcement maintains BG's record of being awarded acreage with every application it has made in licensing rounds since its entry into the Norwegian Continental Shelf in 2003.

Mark Carne, BG Group Executive Vice President and Managing Director Europe and Central Asia said:

"We are delighted by today's awards that allow us to continue our investment and expansion within the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

"Since our entry into Norway we have been awarded or acquired interests in 23 licences, and in 13 of these we are now the operator. This is a remarkable achievement in such a short space of time.

"Today's awards mark a 100 per cent success rate for our applications in the 19th round. This is clear reward for our exploration led growth strategy in the region to deliver exciting new opportunities.

"In this round we have been awarded operatorship in deep-water areas in the Norwegian Sea, and we are expanding, also as operator, into the Barents Sea, which is a new and challenging area for us."

The licence awards are as follows:

Barents Sea
PL 396 (BG 70% (op))
PL 395 (BG 30%)
PL 393 (BG 20%)

Norwegian Sea
PL392 (BG 20%)
PL 391 (BG 40% (op))
PL 390 (BG 70% (op))
PL 388 (BG100%(op))
PL 372 BS (BG70% (op))

Notes to editors:

BG Group plc is a global natural gas business. Active on five continents in over 20 countries, it operates four business segments - Exploration and Production, LNG, Transmission and Distribution and Power.

In December 2003, BG was selected for the operatorship - and 100 per cent ownership - in PL 297 in Norway's first Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) licensing round. Seismic was acquired over the blocks in 2004-05.

Since then the BG portfolio in Norway has grown as follows:

June 2004 - 18th Licensing Round, Norwegian Sea:
PL 324 (BG 30%, ENI (op), Chevron)
PL 325 (BG 30%, Chevron (op), ENI)

August 2004 - Transaction with Lundin, North Sea Play Extension:
PL 292 (BG 60% (op), Lundin)

November 2004 - Transaction with Paladin, North Sea Play Extension:
PL 143 (BG 30%, ConocoPhillips (op), Talisman)
PL 143 CS (BG 20%, Talisman (op), DNO)
PL 298 (BG 20%, Talisman (op))

December 2004 - Two awards in APA (Awards in Predefined Areas) Licensing Round:
PL 335 (BG 52% (op), Lundin, Paladin, RWE)
PL 337 (BG 25%, Pertra (op))

July 2005 - Transaction with Statoil, Norwegian Sea:
PL 251 (BG 20%, Statoil (op), Shell)

November 2005 - Transaction with DONG, North Sea:
PL 274 BS (BG 80% (op), DONG 20%)

December 2005 - Four awards in APA (Awards in Predefined Areas) Licensing Round:
PL373S (BG 45% (op), Revus, RWE, Idemitsu)
PL 372S (BG 70% (op), Revus)
PL374S (BG 45% (op), Revus, Petoro, Premier)
PL382 (BG 80% (op), Noreco)


Enquiries:

Communications:
+ 44 (0) 118 929 2462

Out of hours media assistance:
+ 44 (0)7917 185 707

Investor Relations
Chris Lloyd/Helen Parris/Kate Bingham + 44 (0) 118 929 3025

 
There are matters discussed in this media information that are forward looking statements. Such statements are only predictions and actual events or results may differ materially. For a discussion of important factors which could cause actual results to differ from the forward looking statements, refer to the Company's annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 2005.

Cautionary note to US investors - The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits oil and gas companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only proved reserves that a company has demonstrated by actual production or conclusive formation tests to be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions. We use certain terms in this press release such as "proved and probable reserves", "initial reserves" and "unbooked resources", that the SEC's guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in filings with the SEC. US investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No. 1-09337, available from us at BG Group, 100 Thames Valley Park Drive, Reading RG6 1PT. You may read and copy this information at the SEC's public reference room, located at 100 F Street, NE, Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the public reference room. This filing is also avail able at the internet website maintained by SEC at http://www.sec.gov.

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