The 2005 merger of Royal Dutch Petroleum and Shell Transport and Trading created Royal Dutch Shell.
The two companies had operated together for decades through the Royal Dutch/Shell group, but they remained legally separate corporations. Royal Dutch Petroleum was based in the Netherlands, while Shell Transport and Trading was based in the United Kingdom. Their complicated dual structure reflected the companies’ original ownership and national identities.
The merger simplified that arrangement by creating a single company incorporated in England and Wales, while retaining the Shell name and the group’s international oil and gas operations. The new company was commonly known as Royal Dutch Shell until it adopted Shell as its legal name in 2022.
A common mix-up is calling the 2005 result simply Shell plc. That name is correct for the company after its 2022 rebranding, but the merger itself created Royal Dutch Shell.