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June, 2004:

sg.biz.yahoo.com: Shell New Zealand Approves Pohokura Gas Field

sg.biz.yahoo.com: Shell New Zealand Approves Pohokura Gas Field

Edited Press Release

Wednesday June 30, 5:56 PM

LONDON (Dow Jones)–Shell New Zealand said Wednesday that it has formally given the green light to the development of the Pohokura gas field, when it signed off the Final Investment Decision (FID).

Shell New Zealand Exploration and Production Commercial Manager Ajit Bansal said Shell was still anticipating first gas to flow from Pohokura in mid 2006.

“We are confident that the project is on track to deliver first gas in mid 2006. Given New Zealand’s critical need for more gas, Shell is very aware that Pohokura needs to be up and running in a timely manner”, he said. read more

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AccountingWEB.com: Pension Funds Sue Shell Seeking Damages, Governance Changes

AccountingWEB.com: Pension Funds Sue Shell Seeking Damages, Governance Changes

Posted 30 June 04

Two pension funds filed suit Friday against more than two dozen directors and officers of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group and their accounting and audit firms PricewaterhouseCoopers International and KPMG International.

The suit follows the company downgrading its proven oil and natural gas reserves four times since Jan. 9. The company reduced reserves as of Dec. 31, 2002 by about 23 percent, or 4.47 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Reserves are an important measure of an oil company’s performance and future value, as the amount represents how much oil and gas the company expects to commercially pump to the surface. read more

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Expatica News: Shell: 85pc of written off reserves exist

Expatica News: Shell: 85pc of written off reserves exist

30 June 2004

AMSTERDAM — Shell chairman Jeroen van der Veer expects that 85 percent of the oil reserves the Anglo-Dutch energy company wrote off earlier this year will later be restored to the multinational’s accounts.

The Dutchman said at a shareholders meeting in Scheveningen this week that the oil reserves exist, but are not listed in order to comply with US accountancy regulations.

Despite this, 40 percent of the shareholders refused to back the management board’s policy. Large investors such as the pension fund ABP and US and British institutes came out and opposed Shell policy direction. read more

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New York Times: Oil Firms Differ with on SEC Gas Reserves

New York Times: Oil Firms Differ with on SEC Gas Reserves

By REUTERS

Published: June 29, 2004

Posted 30 June 04

LONDON/OSLO (Reuters) – The oil and gas reserves controversy sparked by Royal Dutch/Shell’s shock January downgrade took a new turn on Tuesday as two of Shell’s partners in a Norwegian gas field differed over reserves bookings.

The divergence emerged despite months of talks between the companies and U.S. regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to try to iron out confusions over what can and cannot be booked as “proved” reserves. read more

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Business Day: Grindrod, BP and Shell in R350m BEE deal

Business Day: Grindrod, BP and Shell in R350m BEE deal

By Lynn Bolin

30 June 04

Listed South African shipping group Grindrod Ltd (GND) and its subsidiary Unicorn Shipping have teamed up with global oil giants BP and Shell to facilitate a 350 million rand empowerment deal for black empowerment shipping group Southern Tankers.

The deal includes the purchase of a new 250 million rand oil tanker and a three- year charter contract valued at R100 million to transport oil along the south and east African coasts.

Southern Tankers is 50% owned by Grindrod and 50% owned by black empowerment group Dudula Shipping, and was set up in 2001 to provide a platform to offer shipping transport services to the South African petrochemical and marine industry. read more

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Shell Survives Shareholder Rebellion

Planet Ark: Shell Survives Shareholder Rebellion

“Not only has Shell been overstating its oil reserves, it has exaggerated its social and environmental performance too”

UK: June 30, 2004

THE HAGUE/LONDON – Embattled oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell survived a shareholder rebellion this week, but not before almost 40 percent of its Dutch stock was voted against key resolutions at the annual general meeting.

Investors gathered in The Hague were asked to agree that Royal Dutch managing directors and its supervisory board “be discharged of responsibility in respect of their management for the year 2003.”

Usually such a vote would be carried almost unanimously, but Monday’s vote saw only 60 percent in favor. Shareholders at a twin meeting in London also showed their disapproval of the disastrous year of reserves downgrades and high-level executive firings. Almost 10 percent of Shell stock was voted against approving executive pay for the year. read more

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Ormen Lange highlights broader issues

Financial Times: Ormen Lange highlights broader issues

“in the wake of the scandal at Royal Dutch/Shell”

By James Boxell

Jun 30, 2004

BP’s share of the Ormen Lange gas field is estimated to be worth the equivalent of 180m barrels of oil – a drop in the ocean for a company that yesterday confirmed it had 18.4bn barrels of proved total reserves.

But given the current obsession with reserves in the wake of the scandal at Royal Dutch/Shell, which overbooked its reserves by more than 20 per cent, the Norwegian field has acquired a significance far beyond its size.

It captures in microcosm the confusion over how companies report their reserves to the SEC. read more

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BP has more in reserve

The Independent: BP has more in reserve

“prompting CSFB to advise a switch out of Royal Dutch Shell”

Tue 29 June 2004

By Phill Cozens, Stockmarket Correspondent

BP improves 5p to 495p as it reports a 23 million barrel rise in proved reserves, prompting CSFB to advise a switch out of Royal Dutch Shell, 4p lower at 413p, while the lower crude price helps British Airways to another 5p rise to 278p, with JP Morgan upgrading its rating to overweight from neutral.

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Shell Says SEC Questioned 30 In Reserves Probe

The Wall Street Journal: Shell Says SEC Questioned 30 In Reserves Probe

Investigators from the SEC and the Justice Department have teamed up in the probe”

By ALMAR LATOUR, MARK LONG and CHIP CUMMINS

Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

June 29, 2004; Page A2

Posted 30 June 04

Royal Dutch/Shell Group said 30 employees have been questioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the oil company’s massive overstatement of energy reserves this year.

Investigators from the SEC and the Justice Department have teamed up in the probe and are expected to request interviews with dozens of additional current and former Shell executives.

In a contrite appearance before angry shareholders yesterday at the annual meeting of Shell’s Dutch parent company, Jeroen van der Veer, Shell’s chairman, said he was surprised to learn that the number of executives interviewed in the probe was as high as it was. He said he wasn’t aware of the status of the SEC and the Justice Department investigations and said he hadn’t received an invitation to be interviewed by either agency. He declined to comment on whether he expected to be asked to appear. read more

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BP, Norsk-Hydro Differ in Booking Field’s Reserves

The Wall Street Journal: BP, Norsk-Hydro Differ in Booking Field’s Reserves

By CHIP CUMMINS

Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

June 30, 2004; Page A2

LONDON — Further muddying the water for energy investors, two large European companies took drastically different tacks in booking reserves from the same natural-gas field after months of discussion with U.S. regulators.

In its annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, BP PLC retained all of its previously booked reserves of 209.1 million barrels of oil equivalent from the Ormen Lange field offshore Norway. But Norsk Hydro ASA slashed its bookings from the field by 102 million barrels to 234 million. Both companies are partners in the large natural-gas project. read more

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Investors stunned by Shell revelation

Daily Telegraph: Investors stunned by Shell revelation

By Christopher Hope, Business Correspondent (Filed: 30/06/2004)

Major shareholders in Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, yesterday reacted with astonishment to the news that Shell’s Dutch chairman knew there was a problem with its reserves two months before its British chairman was told.

Aad Jacobs told shareholders at Royal Dutch’s annual meeting in the Netherlands that he was told there was a problem in November last year by Walter Van der Vijver, the head of exploration and production who was later fired. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

BP torments Shell with oil reserves revision

The Independent: BP torments Shell with oil reserves revision

By Michael Harrison, Business Editor

30 June 2004

BP admitted yesterday that it too had misled investors about the size of its oil and gas reserves. Unlike its rival Shell, however, BP has been underestimating them.

In a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, BP said that its proved reserves were 23 million barrels higher than stated in the company’s 2003 annual report and were now estimated to be 18.361 billion barrels. The announcement, coming just a day after shareholders in Shell attacked the “abysmal” performance of their company, served to highlight again the gulf between the two oil producers. Brokers at the investment bank CSFB advised investors to switch out of Shell and into BP. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

BP surprises with upward adjustment

Financial Times: BP surprises with upward adjustment

By James Boxell in London

Jun 30, 2004

BP yesterday surprised the markets with a slight upward adjustment of its estimates of reserves. Europe’s biggest oil group had to recalculate its UK-approved figures to bring them into line with US Securities and Exchange Commission guidelines.

The issue of oil reserves has become a hot topic since Royal Dutch/Shell was forced to cut its own estimates by more than 20 per cent this year.

Shell is expected to file its revised reserve figures with the SEC today, although no more nasty surprises are expected. read more

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JUNE 2004 ROYAL DUTCH SHELL NEWS

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Still Shell-shocked

The Independent: Still Shell-shocked: “a company which is obviously still in denial”

They went to listen to Big Ron, but sadly, answers came there none. No one expected the chairman of Shell Transport & Trading, Lord Oxburgh (Ron, apparently, to his fellow directors) to have the mating habits of the grey whale at his fingertips or the precise geography of the Niger delta committed to memory.

But it wasn’t only the environmentalists who turned up at yesterday’s annual meeting that found themselves entering an information-free zone. Ordinary investors seeking a glimpse of the new-look streamlined, simplified and transparent Shell also went away none the wiser. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Independent: Investors lambast Shell over ousted chairman’s £1m pay-off

The Independent: Investors lambast Shell over ousted chairman’s £1m pay-off

the £1.06m pay-off for Sir Philip Watts proved that, even under new leadership, the company was still living in “a parallel universe”

By Michael Harrison, Business Editor

29 June 2004

Shell received a mauling yesterday from shareholders over the “scandal” of the £1m pay-off for its disgraced former chairman, its “abject” environmental record and its cumbersome dual board structure.

Shareholders attending the annual meetings of the Anglo-Dutch oil giant in London and The Hague, tore into the company over the fiasco of last January’s reserves downgrade, linking it directly to the lack of accountability and transparency at board level. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
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