Royal Dutch Shell PLC, commonly known as "Shell," was established in 1907 by the merger of Royal Dutch Petroleum and the UK-based Shell Transport & Trading. Shell has a long and successful business history and from its early beginnings, its mission has been to meet the world's continuously growing demand for energy (Shell Global: Our History. 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.shell.com/global/ aboutshell/who-we-are/our-history.html). This multinational company topped the 2013 Fortune Global 500 list of the world's largest companies (Global 500. Royal Dutch Shell. CNN. 2012. Retrieved from: http://money.cnn. com/magazines/fortune/global500/2012/snapshots/6388.html), and is the largest company in the world in terms of revenue (Fortune 500 2013. Retrieved from: http://money.cnn.com/ magazines/fortune/global500/2013/full_list/?iid=G500_sp_full/). .
Royal Dutch Shell plc, has its corporate headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. The company also has a registered office in London within the United Kingdom. Royal Dutch Shell's headquarters and registered office locations do not preclude the company's common stock to trade on three exchanges. The Company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (primary), Euronext Amsterdam (secondary), and the New York Stock Exchange (secondary), (Shell at a Glance. Royal Dutch Shell plc. 2013. Retrieved from: http://www.shell.com/ global/ aboutshell/at-aglance.html). .
The most recent annual report available to the public is for the year ended December 31, 2013. Within this annual report, the consolidated financial statements are included for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011. The consolidated financial statements include the consolidated statement of income, consolidated balance sheet, consolidated statement of comprehensive income, consolidated statement of changes in equity, and the consolidated statement of cash flows (Royal Dutch Shell plc. 2013. Annual Report 2013.