Royal Dutch/Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil company, has attracted strong demand for an opportunistic debut sterling-denominated bond after reporting better-than-expected results for the third quarter.

The £300m (€474.5m) bond, which matures in January 2006, was issued on Thursday via Shell Finance (UK) plc, the oil company's finance arm, and lead managed by Merrill Lynch. The deal marked Shell's debut in the sterling market and demand was fuelled by the rarity and high quality of Shell's debt.