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Stock Exchange Announcement 19 May 2006

BG Group successful in Nigerian Licensing Round


BG Group, together with consortium member Sahara Energy Exploration & Production Limited, today announced that it has been awarded Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 286-DO, (previously OPL 213), in the 2006 Nigerian Licensing Round. 

A signature bonus of $55 million is payable on signing of a Production Sharing Contract.  BG Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of BG Group, will be the operator of OPL 286-DO and will undertake a work programme including one exploration well in the first five year phase. 

BG Group Executive Vice President for the Mediterranean Basin and Africa, Stuart Fysh, said: ‘We are pleased to have secured this highly prospective acreage offshore Nigeria which complements our existing Nigerian investments in OPL 332 and the Olokola LNG project.  We look forward to working with partners and the Nigerian Government in continuing to play an active role in the development of Nigeria’s gas sector.’ 

OPL 286-DO is located in deep water (200 - 1,000 meters) offshore the western Niger Delta, approximately 250 kilometres south-east of the Lagos.

Note to Editors:

In January 2006, BG Group acquired a 45 percent interest in, and operatorship of, Block 332 offshore Nigeria. Sahara Energy Exploration & Production Limited also retains a 45 percent interest along with Seven Energy Nigeria Limited, which holds a 10 percent interest. (See press release 20 Jan 2006: BG Group signs Nigerian Production Sharing Contract)

Also in January, BG Gas Marketing Limited announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Nigeria’s Brass LNG for the acquisition of 2.0 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG for 20 years.  Shipments are expected to commence in 2010. (See press release 30 Jan 2006: BG Group and Brass LNG enter agreement for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) supply)

BG Group signed a Project Development Agreement in February 2006 with Chevron, Shell and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to undertake Front End Engineering Design on the Olokola LNG facility in Nigeria’s western states of Ondo and Ogun.

In October 2003, BG LNG Services signed a Sales and Purchase Agreement with Nigeria LNG to acquire 2.5 mtpa for 20 years. Shipments to the Lake Charles import terminal in Louisiana commenced in January 2006.

BG Group 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. 


Enquiries:

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Out of hours media assistance:
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Investor Relations
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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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