Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
National Post: Shell Canada distances itself from parent company reserves estimates scandal
JAMES STEVENSON
Canadian Press
Friday, April 30, 2004
Shell Canada president and CEO Linda Cook speaks with the media after the company’s annual meeting in Calgary on Friday. (CP/Jeff McIntosh)
CALGARY (CP) – Shell Canada Ltd. distanced itself from the reserve reporting problems of its European parent Friday, saying the Calgary-based subsidiary is a separate entity that has full confidence in its own oil and gas estimates.
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Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
BUSINESS WEEK: FSA LOOKS AT SHELL EMAILS
By Alan Lodge
Apr 29 2004
Posted 30 April 04
Probe into oil giant after `lying’ revelations
THE Financial Services Authority has launched its own probe into oil giant Shell.
The move comes after it emerged former executives had lied about the company’s oil and gas reserves for many years
Last week the firm announced an internal investigation had shown investors had been misled about the company’s position and the company had overstated its reserves – a figure used by analysts and investors to value the company – by 20 per cent. read more
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Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
TheMotleyFool.co.uk: Shell Fishing
By David Kuo (TMFDragon)
April 29, 2004
They say that one of the best times to invest in a blue chip firm is when the company is on its knees. In the case of Shell the scandal-hit oil giant is not just on its knees, it is writhing on the ground in agony following the exposure of five years of fishy management decisions.
So is Shell a buy?
As with all investment decisions there are never any straightforward answers. After all, if investing in shares is that clear-cut we would all be exceedingly rich people! read more
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Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
The Times: CITYLAW – Shell
Published 27 April 04
Posted 30 April 04
SHELL has drafted in Cravath Swaine & Moore to fight off claims by the US Securities & Exchange Commission – although the firm helped to write the report that led to the regulators’ probe in the first place.
Cravath, the energy company’s long-term legal advisors, co-wrote the memorandum that forced Shell to launch Project Rockford – codename for the energy company’s review of its reserves. (The Lawyer)
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Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Financial Times: OBSERVER: Shell game
Apr 30, 2004
Shell’s new executives made investors twitchy this week.
Until late Wednesday afternoon the company’s first quarter earnings were to be discussed in a conference call by Tim Morrison, acting chief financial officer, alone.
The last time Shell chatted about its earnings was on January 9, when it said it was slashing 20 per cent of its reserves because they had been wrongly booked with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
By the evening, however, Shell had lined up Jeroen van der Veer, chairman, and Malcolm Brinded, head of exploration and production, as well. With its earnings as strong as they were, why were van der Veer and Brinded so shy? read more
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Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Financial Times: Lex COLUMN: Royal Dutch/Shell
Apr 30, 2004
Surprises from Royal Dutch/Shell are not normally prefaced with the word “welcome”. Fortunately for shareholders its reserves debacle has played out against a backdrop of high oil and gas prices. First-quarter earnings are strong, enabling the oil group to announce a $2bn share buyback and an increase in capital expenditure of up to $2bn. Investors can also draw comfort from the fact that excess cash flow has not been directed towards costly acquisitions to address the problem of Shell’s paltry reserve replacement ratio.
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Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Financial Times: Strong results a respite for Shell
By Carola Hoyos and Friederike Tiesenhausen Cave
Published: April 30 2004 5:00 | Last Updated: April 30 2004 5:00
Royal Dutch/Shell, the embattled energy group, gained some respite from its reserves worries yesterday, reporting strong first-quarter figures and promising investors a $2bn (£1.13bn) share buy-back programme this year.
The move, which will be financed from strong cash flow thanks to high oil prices, sent the group’s shares to their highest levels since January 9, when Shell cut 20 per cent of its proved oil and gas reserves.
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Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Financial Times: Shell reassures with upbeat results
By Carola Hoyos and Friederike Tiesenhausen Cave in London
Published: April 30 2004 5:00 | Last Updated: April 30 2004 5:00
Royal Dutch/Shell, the embattled energy group, yesterday gained some respite from its reserves worries by reporting strong first-quarter figures and promising investors a $2bn share buy-back programme this year.
The move, which will be financed from strong cashflow thanks to high oil prices, sent the group’s shares to their highest levels since January 9, when Shell cut 20 per cent of its proved oil and gas reserves.
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Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
The Times: Shell share buyback looks slick move
30 April 04
SHELL’S vanishing oil reserves did not amount to a death sentence for the company. It was still left with an awful lot of oil and gas at a time when prices for both are strong. But the rapturous reception that greeted the buoyant profit figures that the company announced yesterday, accompanied by an ingratiating $2 billion share buyback, showed the City at its most forgiving.
After what has emerged from the company so far, it is too early for investors to be sanguine once more about Shell. A culture that allowed shareholders to be deliberately misled over such a long period is not likely to have been eradicated with a couple of high-profile departures and one demotion. And, although Shell’s production for the first quarter was impressive, it remains a worrying fact that the company’s lack of new discoveries means that it is shrinking with every gallon of petrol it sells.
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Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
The Times: Shell set to step up disposal of assets
By Carl Mortished, International Business Editor
April 30, 2004
SHELL is expected to accelerate a multibillion-dollar programme of asset sales in an effort to meet the cost of adopting a dramatic policy U-turn of handing cash back to investors.
The oil company yesterday revealed a new policy aimed at appeasing investors, and analysts believe Shell could further increase the size of the cash return by selling North Sea assets and non-core business. The oil company has begun the process of making amends with shareholders angered by the reserves misreporting scandal, announcing better than expected profits of $4.25 billion (£2.4 billion) for the first quarter and revealing plans to buy back some $2 billion in stock.
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Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Daily Telegraph: Shell pledges to buy back $2bn shares
By Christopher Hope, Business Correspondent (Filed: 30/04/2004)
Shell, the embattled oil and gas giant, yesterday announced plans to buy back $2billion-worth of its shares and said that plans to reform its unwieldy corporate structure were progressing speedily.
Shell said that it would spend $2billion on its buyback programme between now and the end of the year, the first buybacks since December 2002.
Jeroen van der Veer, chairman of Shell’s committee of managing directors, said Shell could buy back more shares because of the high oil price.
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Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
The Guardian: Shell woos investors with $2bn buyback
Terry Macalister
Friday April 30, 2004
Scandal-hit Shell yesterday won back some of its lost favour with investors by announcing plans to launch a $2bn (£1.1bn) share buyback programme – something it had recently shunned.
Shares in the Anglo-Dutch oil company rebounded more than 3% to 399p, powered by a better than expected financial performance in the first quarter of the year.
Profits rose 9% to $4.25bn on the back of stronger crude prices, higher refining margins and improved chemicals performance.
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Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
The Independent: Movement at Shell
30 April 04
Like a supertanker in mid-ocean, it takes an awfully long time for a bureaucratic monolith such as Royal Dutch/Shell to change course. But yesterday it showed the first signs in months that someone may actually have their hand somewhere in the rough vicinity of the tiller. The share buy-back was a no-brainer for a business gushing cash on the back of $34 oil. The decision to run the company for value not volume is also a step in the right direction.
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Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
The Independent: Shell fights back with $2bn share buy-back programme
By Michael Harrison, Business Editor
30 April 2004
Royal Dutch/Shell, the crisis-stricken oil group, sought to regain investor confidence yesterday by unveiling a $2bn (£1bn) share buy-back programme.
Reporting better-than-expected first-quarter profits, the oil giant also pledged that its exploration and production strategy would be geared to achieving short-term gains for shareholders over the next 12 months.
The double bill of good news was designed to try to put a lid, at least temporarily, on the reserves scandal which has plunged Shell into the gravest crisis in its 96-year history.
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Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
The Scotsman: Oil giant proves it’s still a winner
MARTIN FLANAGAN
CITY EDITOR
Fri 30 Apr 2004
Clearly, with these sorts of profits, to talk about Shell in the same voice as Enron and Parmalat is nonsense
I SUGGESTED here yesterday that Shell would be very lucky if the market focused on its first-quarter trading results released later in the day, given the billowing, dark clouds over the overstated reserves scandal.
I was very wrong. Shell came out swinging, like the big energy beast it remains, with stunningly good trading figures, strong cash generation that will underpin increased capital spending going forward, and a US$2 billion (£1.1bn) share buyback aimed pretty unsubtly at repairing relations with the City.
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Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
New York Times: Shell to buy back $2 billion in stock
By HEATHER TIMMONS
April 30, 2004
LONDON — The Royal Dutch/Shell Group said on Thursday that it would buy back $2 billion of its shares this year, the latest sign that the company is trying to placate shareholders after months of criticism.
Shell has been under fire since it unexpectedly cut its proven reserves estimates by 20 percent in January and is being investigated by regulators including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice and Britain’s market regulator, the Financial Services Authority.
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Apr 30th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Apr 29th, 2004
by John Donovan.
The Times: Revival in the pipeline?
April 29, 2004
By Richard Irving, Business News Editor
Shell has shocked investors again, this time by revealing profits far better than they had hoped for.
For most of 2004, Shell has found buyers for its shares as elusive as its “proven” oil reserves.
It was not so long ago, in June last year, that the stock was trading near parity with BP shares at a little over 400p.
Yesterday Shell shares closed at 386.75p, more than 20 per cent below the price of BP stock.
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Apr 29th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Forbes.com: S&P says it may still cut Shell’s debt rating
Reuters, 04.29.04, 12:02 PM ET
NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) – Standard & Poor’s on Thursday said it may still cut its rating on Royal Dutch/Shell after the Anglo-Dutch oil group reported first-quarter financial results at the top range of expectations.
S&P said that although some of the quarter’s news was positive, including a sharp reduction in debt to $11.7 billion from $18.2 billion, there were also negatives, such as an erosion in oil and gas production and a planned $14.5 billion to $15 billion capital spending program for 2004 and 2005.
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Apr 29th, 2004
by John Donovan.
The Scotsman: Embattled Shell lifted by 9% rise in profits
29 April 04
THE tide appeared to turn in Shell’s favour today as the troubled oil giant cheered analysts by reporting a nine per cent hike in quarterly profits.
The company, which has seen its reputation battered by a series of oil reserve downgrades, also bowed to investor pressure and restarted its share buyback programme.
Net profits for the first three months of the year rose ahead of market expectations to some £2.4 billion – despite the company recording a decline in oil output.
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Apr 29th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Yahoo.com: Shell 1Q Net Falls 16%, Announces $2B Buyback
By Mark Long Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Thursday April 29 04
LONDON (Dow Jones)–Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD, SC) Thursday said its first-quarter net profit dropped 16% from a year earlier’s record result that was skewed higher by more than $1 billion in special credits.
The beleaguered Anglo-Dutch oil giant also moved to win back wary investors with a plan to buy back $2 billion worth of its own shares this year, and said it would boost spending on exploration for oil and gas.
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Apr 29th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Bloomberg.com: Shell Reports Drop in First-Quarter Earnings as Output Falls
April 29 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch/Shell Group, which faces regulator probes and investor lawsuits after cutting oil and gas reserves three times, said first-quarter profit fell 16 percent from a year ago as output declined.
Net income dropped to $4.43 billion from $5.31 billion a year ago, the company, based in London and The Hague, said in a PRNewswire statement. Profits from asset sales were smaller than in the year-earlier period.
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Apr 29th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Financial Times: Shell ‘had systems in place’ to hear fears over reserves
By Carola Hoyos
Published: April 29 2004 5:00 | Last Updated: April 29 2004 5:00
A senior Royal Dutch/Shell executive has insisted that there were systems in place for any director to raise concerns over the oil group’s reserves position with the board.
John Hofmeister, Shell’s director of human resources, told the Financial Times that the issue could have been raised “through audit, human resources or the non-executive process” if it was not being addressed under normal reporting lines.
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Apr 29th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Financial Times: Hollywood or bust . . . or For a Few Barrels More
By John Gapper
Published: April 27 2004 5:00 | Last Updated: April 27 2004 5:00
Posted 29 April 04
In mid-2001, Walter van de Vijver succeeded Sir Philip Watts as chief executive of Shell’s exploration and production unit . . . Virtually from [that] time, the two engaged in a pointed dialogue …
In a December 2003 memo entitled Script for Walter . . . the assumption was made that 2.3bn barrels of proved reserves were non-compliant . . . Mrvan de Vijver immediately e-mailed one of its authors: ‘This is absolute dynamite, not at all what I was expecting and needs to be destroyed.’ – Report of Davis, Polk & Wardwell to Shell’s group audit committee. read more
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Apr 29th, 2004
by John Donovan.
London Evening Standard: Huge profits at battered Shell
Sally Hamilton,
29 April 2004
SCANDAL-hit energy giant Shell finally gained respite from its reserves crisis today by stunning the City with huge profits for the first three months of the year and announcing a $2bn (£1.13bn) share buyback.
Shares in the troubled Anglo-Dutch group leapt 12 1/2p to 399 3/4p, catapulting it to the top of the FTSE 100 risers in early trade and a high since it revealed the reserves debacle in January.
Profits rose 9% to $4.2bn for the quarter to March, above City expectations.
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Apr 18th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Apr 17th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Apr 16th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Apr 13th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Apr 12th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Apr 11th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Apr 10th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Apr 7th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Apr 6th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Apr 5th, 2004
by John Donovan.
Apr 4th, 2004
by John Donovan.