The Shell Oil company, known as Royal Dutch Shell and Shell Transport & Trading is one of the major oil companies of the world. It was one of the original Seven Sisters existing before the break up of Standard Oil.
The Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies - usually known as Shell - has grown out of an alliance made in 1907 between Royal Dutch Petroleum Company in the Netherlands and The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company, p.l.c. in the UK (NYSE: RD and NYSE: SC). Shell has five core businesses: Exploration and Production, Oil Products, Downstream Gas and Power, Chemicals and Renewables, and operates in more than 140 countries across the world.
These companies are headed by the Royal Dutch Shell company of the Netherlands and Shell Transport and Trading of the United Kingdom. These two companies hold all other subsidiary companies. The Shell interest in subsidiaries is always divided in the proportion 60:40 back to Royal Dutch and Shell T&T. In many cases, subsidiary companies are held in partnership with other, be these governments or others.
Although to meet Company Law in all countries there are nominated directors, the Shell Group of Companies is in fact run by an executive body whose members are chosen from the overall group.
The largest single shareholder of Royal Dutch Shell is the Dutch Royal Family.