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May, 2004:

Shell restates 2002 reserves for the fourth time

Financial Times: Shell restates 2002 reserves for the fourth time

 

By Clay Harris and Andrea Felsted

Posted 25 May 04

 

Royal Dutch/Shell on Monday restated its proved oil and gas reserves at the end of 2002 for the fourth time this year.

 

The latest revision, largely reflecting a change in the accounting treatment of reserves in Canada, was smaller and more technical than previous restatements but increased the total reduction from 4.35bn to 4.47bn barrels.

 

The Anglo-Dutch group announced the revision and accounting changes ahead of the publication of its annual report on Friday, two months later than normal. The accounts will show proved reserves of 14.35bn barrels at the end of 2003, equal to 10.2 years of production. Its reserve replacement ratio was 63 per cent in 2003. read more

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Shell accounts get signed off at last

Financial Times: Shell accounts get signed off at last

By Clay Harris

May 25, 2004

Any embarrassment Royal Dutch/Shell might have felt yesterday at having to go public for the fourth time this year with a new and lower figure for its proved oil and gas reserves was overshadowed by a sense of relief – even elation.

The Anglo-Dutch group’s 2003 accounts were finally signed off with an unqualified opinion by its auditors, and the annual report at long last had gone to the printers.

Even if the timetable was two months behind Shell’s usual financial year, the company had met its revised deadline.
read more

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Call to UK companies on risk controls

Financial Times: Call to UK companies on risk controls

 

By Jane Croft, Retail Banking Correspondent, in London

May 25, 2004 

 

All UK listed companies may soon be required to demonstrate the quality of their internal controls to their auditors for the first time, according to new proposals.

 

The Financial Services Authority, which is the UK’s financial regulator, believes auditors should be required to review 10 key audit and accountability areas included in the UK’s Combined Code on Corporate Governance.

 

The most important of these will be reviewing a company’s internal risk controls, which measure the reliability of a company’s financial reporting and risk management. read more

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Shell cuts oil reserves for fourth time

ChannelNewsAsia.com: Shell cuts oil reserves for fourth time

 

Posted 25 May 04

 

LONDON: Royal Dutch/Shell restated its oil reserves for the fourth time this year.

 

The Anglo-Dutch group cut its proven reserves by an extra 120,000 barrels, taking the total reduction since January to 4.47 billion barrels, or over 20 percent.

 

Proved reserves as of the end of 2003 now stand at 14.35 billion barrels.

 

The latest change was linked to royalties paid on properties in Canada, Shell said in a statement Monday ahead of its annual report due to be published on Friday. read more

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BBC News: Shell trims back reserves again -Can Shell draw a line under the scandal?

BBC News: Shell trims back reserves again -Can Shell draw a line under the scandal?

 

Posted 25 May 04

 

Beleaguered oil firm Shell has unveiled yet another cut in its oil reserves but said it does not expect to have to do so again.

 

The firm said it was removing 4.47bn barrels of oil from its 2002 reserves; its last estimated cut was 4.35bn.

 

It is the fourth time the Anglo-Dutch oil giant has had to restate its reserves since January.

 

Investor anger has led to the departure of three of Shell’s top executives, including chairman Philip Watts.

 

Shell’s share price tumbled in January this year when it first stunned investors by cutting its oil and gas reserves by 20% read more

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Australian Financial Review: Shell makes more reserve revisions

Australian Financial Review: Shell makes more reserve revisions

 

Tom Cahill  

May 25

 

Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Europe’s second-largest oil company, cut oil and gas reserves for the fourth time, seeking to conclude revisions that led to the ousting of senior executives and the loss of its top credit rating.

 

Shell will reduce reported reserves by 4.47 billion barrels of oil equivalent as of 2002, which is 120million more than a previous estimate of 4.35 billion barrels.

 

Shell said the latest reduction followed a change in the way it recognised holdings in Canada. read more

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Press Release from The Shell Transport and Trading Company, p.l.c. Monday May 24 2004

YAHOO.com: Press Release from The “Shell” Transport and Trading Company, p.l.c.

The ‘Shell’ Transport and Trading Company, p.l.c. – Pre Advice to Annual Report Publication
Monday May 24, 7:28 am ET

Advice in advance of the publication of the 2003 Annual Reports and Accounts of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and The ‘Shell’ Transport and Trading Company, p.l.c.

LONDON, May 24 /PRNewswire/ — The 2003 annual reports and accounts of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company (Royal Dutch) and The “Shell” Transport and Trading Company, p.l.c. (Shell Transport) are scheduled to be available to shareholders and published on 28 May 2004. The annual reports and accounts will be submitted for approval at the Annual General Meetings (AGMs) on 28 June 2004.

Mr Jeroen van der Veer, Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies, commented on today’s announcement:

“I am pleased that on Friday we will be publishing our annual reports and accounts for Royal Dutch and Shell Transport as previously announced. The external auditors have given unqualified audit opinions. The annual reports and accounts will reflect a restatement of reserves data and related financial impact, and we have implemented a number of accounting policy changes. We have also adopted a stricter application of some specific accounting standards.

“The aggregate effect of the reserves restatement, including the previously disclosed recategorisations and an adjustment with respect to royalties paid in cash in Canada, brought the total for 2002 to 4.47 billion barrels of oil equivalent.”

Discussions with the Division of Corporation Finance of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), about Shell’s Form 20-F filings continue, in particular with regard to financial statements and unaudited supplementary oil and gas data.

The Group has implemented the following accounting policy changes with effect from 2003:

1. The Group financial statements will be presented in accordance with US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) with a reconciliation to statements presented under Netherlands GAAP. Prospectively the difference with regard to net income is that goodwill is amortised under Netherlands GAAP; whereas under US GAAP goodwill is maintained at the acquisition value and then tested for impairment. 2. All inventories will now be reported on a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) basis. Previously certain inventories in North America were reported on a Last-In-First-Out (LIFO) basis and disclosed in the notes to the financial statements. As a result the Group's accounting policy for inventories is on the same basis globally. The Group will be adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in 2005. Under IFRS, FIFO is the prescribed method for valuing inventories. read more

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Royal Dutch/Shell Says Will Publish 03 Report May 28

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Royal Dutch/Shell Says Will Publish 03 Report May 28

 

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

May 24, 2004 6:15 a.m.

 

Edited Press Release

 

LONDON — Shell Transport and Trading and Royal Dutch Petroleum said Monday that the annual reports and accounts will be published on May 28 and submitted for approval at the Annual General Meetings on Jun. 28, 2004.

 

Jeroen van der Veer, Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies, said: “The external auditors have given unqualified audit opinions”.

 

The annual reports and accounts will reflect a restatement of reserves data and related financial impact, and we have implemented a number of accounting policy changes. The company has also adopted a stricter application of some specific accounting standards. read more

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Shell Makes Fourth Downgrade Of Oil Reserves This Year

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Shell Makes Fourth Downgrade Of Oil Reserves This Year

 

May 24, 2004

 

LONDON — Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Cos. Monday downgraded the size of its oil reserves for the fourth time this year.

 

The company, which stunned shareholders in January when it announced its confirmed oil and gas holdings were 20%, or 3.9 billion barrels, smaller than it had claimed, said that it was downgrading 103 million additional barrels of reserves from “proven” to less certain categories.

 

Shell, the world’s third-largest publicly traded oil company by market capitalization, blamed the new reserves downgrade on an accounting change involving “royalties paid in cash in Canada.” read more

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CBC News: Shell reduces reserve estimates for fourth time this year

CBC News: Shell reduces reserve estimates for fourth time this year

 

Posted 24 May 04

 

TORONTO – Royal Dutch/Shell Group downgraded its oil reserves for the fourth time this year on Monday.

 

The company said it was shifting about 103 million barrels from “proven” to a less-certain classification.

 

Shell blamed the shift on accounting changes involving royalties paid in Canada.

 

The restatement came ahead of Friday’s publication of the company’s annual report.

 

In January, the company said its reserve estimates were overstatement chopped its confirmed them by 20 per cent or roughly 3.9 billion barrels. read more

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London Evening Standard: Shell slashes reserves again

London Evening Standard: Shell slashes reserves again

 

Steve Hawkes,

24 May 2004

 

CRISIS-HIT Shell has been forced to cut the amount of oil and gas reserves on its books for the fourth time since the scandal rocking the energy giant broke earlier this year.

 

In yet another embarrassing blow, the Anglo-Dutch group today revealed a raft of accounting policy changes following talks with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Just over 100m barrels are being lopped off the proven reserves of Shell’s Canadian business, taking the total amount re-categorised since January to 4.9bn. read more

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Shell NZ Says Sells Pohokura Gas To NGC Holdings -2-

Yahoo.com Shell NZ Says Sells Pohokura Gas To NGC Holdings -2-

 

Monday May 24 2004

 

WELLINGTON (Dow Jones)–Shell New Zealand Ltd., a unit of Royal Dutch/Shell (RD), Monday said it has signed a long-term contract to supply NGC Holdings Ltd. (NGC.NZ) with gas from the offshore Pohokura field.

 

The agreement with NGC Holdings follows Shell’s statement Friday that it had sold Pohokura gas to Contact Energy Ltd. (CEN.NZ), Genesis Power Ltd. (GPW.YY), and Multi Gas NZ Ltd.

 

The contract with NGC couldn’t be revealed Friday because legal issues were still being sorted out. read more

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The Guardian: Calm after the storm in the pay wars

The Guardian: Calm after the storm in the pay wars

 

Heather Tomlinson

Monday May 24, 2004

 

Shareholder protests muted by summit

 

Compared with the pantomime of last year, this month’s GlaxoSmithKline annual meeting was a muted affair. The number of protesters could be counted on two hands – a few head office employees of trade union Amicus, a couple of campaigners against animal testing and four people with pig snout masks protesting about Aids drugs.

 

Last year, even City investors registered their protest about the excessive salaries of the directors, and voted against the firm’s pay for the first time. The unapologetic chief executive, Jean-Pierre Garnier, attracted a circus of protesters and acres of publicity for his £22m severance package and seven-figure bonuses. read more

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The Herald: Watts walks off with £1m at Shell

The Herald: Watts walks off with £1m at Shell

 

KARL WEST May 24 2004     

 

SIR Philip Watts, the disgraced former chairman of oil major Shell, has been awarded a golden farewell pay-off of just under £1m, according to reports.

 

Watts, who was sacked by the oil giant in March for his part in the massive overstatement of Shell’s proven oil reserves by 4.35 billion barrels of oil, was on only three months’ notice – like all other Shell directors.

 

However, the board felt the payment was necessary in recognition of his 34 years of service, according to the Sunday Telegraph. read more

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Shell NZ Sells Pohokura Gas To Contact, Genesis, Multi Gas

The Wall Street Journal: Shell NZ Sells Pohokura Gas To Contact, Genesis, Multi Gas

 

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

May 23, 2004 3:07 p.m.

Posted 24 May 04

 

WELLINGTON — Shell New Zealand Ltd., a unit of Royal Dutch/Shell (RD), said Friday it has signed long-term contracts to supply three companies with gas from the offshore Pohokura field.

 

The contracts with electricity generator and retailer Contact Energy Ltd. (CEN.NZ), state-owned Genesis Power Ltd., and Multi Gas NZ Ltd. come into effect when the field starts production in mid-2006 and run until 2012 or longer, Shell said in a statement. read more

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Royal Dutch/Shell severance deals not agreed yet

Financial Times: Royal Dutch/Shell severance deals not agreed yet

By Clay Harris

May 24, 2004

Royal Dutch/Shell has not yet agreed the severance packages for Sir Philip Watts, the sacked chairman of its committee of managing directors, and two other executive board members who lost their jobs this year.

The delay means that the postponed 2003 annual report, to be published on Friday, will not contain the final settlements for the three executives, even though the Anglo-Dutch oil group has stretched its normal financial calendar ) by two months to deal with its reserves restatement crisis.
read more

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Shell, JV partners start oil, gas production from Llano field in Gulf of Mexico

Oil & Gas Journal: Shell, JV partners start oil, gas production from Llano field in Gulf of Mexico 

 

By OGJ editors

Posted 23 May 04

 

HOUSTON, Shell Exploration & Production Co. and its joint venture partners have brought oil and natural gas on production from Llano field on Garden Banks blocks 385 and 386 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

 

Llano field, which lies about 200 miles southwest of New Orleans in about 2,600 ft of water, is producing 10,500 b/d of oil and 26 MMcfd of gas from a single well through a subsea system tied back 11.5 miles to Shell’s Auger tension-leg platform. read more

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Shell gives Watts a £1m farewell

thisisLondon.com: Shell gives Watts a £1m farewell read more

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The Sunday Telegraph: Corporate governance? Buy British

The Sunday Telegraph: Corporate governance? Buy British

 

By Tony Jackson (Filed: 23/05/2004)

 

Corporate scandal, one might have thought, was a relic of the bubble years: a folly of the late 1990s, now being paid for at leisure. Not a bit of it. Across the Atlantic, at least, it is still going strong. And British companies risk being caught in the fallout. 

 

Consider some of the news from the past week alone. Dayton Power and Light, a US utility, has abruptly lost its chairman, chief executive and finance director over alleged fiddling of bonuses and expenses. And at Nortel, the giant Canadian telecoms manufacturer, 157 managers and directors – count them – have been barred from trading in the company’s stock. read more

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The Sunday Telegraph: Shell gives Watts a £1m golden farewell

The Sunday Telegraph: Shell gives Watts a £1m golden farewell

 

By Sylvia Pfeifer and Robert Peston (Filed: 23/05/2004)

 

Sir Philip Watts, the disgraced former chairman of Royal Dutch/Shell who was sacked by the oil giant in March, has received a payoff of just under £1m. 

 

Like all Shell directors, Watts was on only three months’ notice, but the board felt the payoff should recognise his long service. One director said: “The norm is that you get a year when you retire. Some of us felt that was too much and that he should sue us if he wanted more. But that is not the Shell way.” read more

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The Observer: Amec and Koreans in $1bn Iraq deal

The Observer: Amec and Koreans in $1bn Iraq deal

Oliver Morgan

Sunday May 23, 2004

Amec, the British engineering and services group, has signed an agreement with the state-owned South Korean oil company to develop oil production in Iraq.

The Korea National Oil Company (Knoc) wants to invest up to $1 billion in Iraq in order to establish itself there, along with western oil companies such as Shell, which have said they plan to move in as soon as circumstances permit.

Iraq has the world’s second highest oil reserves, behind Saudi Arabia.
read more

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The Sunday Times: Business Letters

The Sunday Times: Business Letters

Posted 23 May 2004

IN Irwin Stelzer’s article last week was the line “The Saudis have excess capacity and have talked about opening the valves, but have not actually done so.”

According to BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy June 2003, Saudi oil production peaked in 1997 at 9,370,000 b/day, since when it has declined to 8,680,000 b/day in 2002. The big question therefore is whether they can actually raise production. We should not have long to wait before it is clear whether Matthew Simmons, Houston energy investment banker, is right when he says production from the huge Ghawar field is failing.
read more

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The Sunday Times: The only way is up for oil prices

The Sunday Times: The only way is up for oil prices

 

By Dominic Rushe

May 23, 2004

 

ACROSS America the average price of regular petrol passed $2 (€1.66) a gallon last Monday. To outsiders, American fuel still looks laughably cheap. Aquafina, a popular bottled water, costs about $2.50 a gallon. But this is a big country with a bad train system where people and goods are transported long distances in big cars and trucks.

 

Pump prices have risen by 28% since January, and odds are they will keep rising. The consequences are far from funny. Expensive petrol is a national disaster. America’s motor industry is already feeling the pinch. read more

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A diplomatic antidote to Dutch helm disease

Financial Times: A diplomatic antidote to Dutch helm disease

 

By Martin Dickson

May 22, 2004

 

A little quiet diplomacy can do a lot of good. As we report today, big British and Dutch investors seem to be moving close to a common front on the changes needed in the way Royal Dutch/Shell is governed.

 

This is very good news, for in the wake of its oil reserving scandal the Anglo-Dutch group has seemed reluctant to embrace the kind of shake-up that is so clearly required. This particularly appeared to be the case at Royal Dutch, with non-executive directors at Shell Transport, the British side, evidently more willing to embrace change. read more

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Governments are considering ways to shelter accounting firms from ruinous lawsuits

Financial Times: Governments are considering ways to shelter accounting firms from ruinous lawsuits

 

By Adrian Michaels and Andrew Parker

May 21, 2004

Posted 22 May 04

 

Parmalat, Hollinger, Royal Dutch/Shell, Nortel -the long wave of corporate scandal that began with Enron rolls on across the world, producing a flood of lawsuits from unhappy investors who want compensation from organisations they deem responsible for the destruction of wealth.

 

It is not just companies themselves that are being targeted; accountants are also on trial. Apart from numerous investor lawsuits where auditors are accused of wrongdoing in the audit of their clients’ financial statements, regulators are pursuing accounting firms in the US, the UK and Italy. read more

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Shell investors near governance pact

Financial Times: Shell investors near governance pact

 

By Sundeep Tucker in London and Ian Bickerton in Amsterdam

Published: May 21 2004 22:00 | Last Updated: May 21 2004 22:00

 

Posted 22 May 04

 

Leading Dutch shareholders in Royal Dutch/Shell have stepped up contacts with UK investors in a joint drive for changes in structure and governance improvements at the embattled oil company.

 

Investors in both countries have agreed that change in governance, transparency and controls is essential if Shell is to recover credibility following this year’s reserves downgrades and management upheaval. read more

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Shell Nigeria Reports Second Pipeline Fire In Week

The Wall Street Journal: Shell Nigeria Reports Second Pipeline Fire In Week

 

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

May 21, 2004 1:32 p.m.


LAGOS — Shell Nigeria reported a second pipeline fire in a week Friday, and said one person was believed dead after the blaze.

 

The company said the pipeline fire was in the Oguta-Egbema region of which is south eastern Nigeria.

 

A company statement said that a tanker without a registration plate number, which may have been used to steal oil from the pipeline, was burning at the scene.

 

Shell says its fire crew has put out the blaze and staff are trying to clamp the leaking line. read more

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Shell Confirms 3 Dead in Oil Well Fire

AllAfrica.com: Shell Confirms 3 Dead in Oil Well Fire

Mike Oduniyi

Lagos

Posted 21 May 04

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), has confirmed the death of three people from its oil well fire in Afam, Oyigbo Local Government, Rivers State.

In a press statement signed by its Corporate Relations Manager, Mr Don Boham, the three were “probably illegal oil bunkerers that had dug into the Afam well-16, with intent to steal crude”.

Meanwhile, the fire was still raging as at press time, as the fire fighting crew from Shell backed by teams from French oil firm Total and the Port Harcourt Refinery deployed to the site were unable to put out the fire, Shell said.
read more

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Argentina Fuel Price Deal Leaves Refiners In Tight Spot

The Wall Street Journal: Argentina Fuel Price Deal Leaves Refiners In Tight Spot

By LAURENCE NORMAN

May 20, 2004 1:06 p.m.

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Posted 21 May 04

BUENOS AIRES — A late night phone call between Argentina’s President Nestor Kirchner and Alfonso Cortina, president of oil giant Repsol YPF SA (REP), has transformed the rules of the game in the local oil sector and squeezed refiners into a lose-lose situation.

 

Late Tuesday, while producers and refiners were still working on a new version of a fuel price accord that would have seen fuel prices raised for the first time in 16 months, Kirchner asked Cortina to block the hikes, according to an industry official. read more

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Shell NZ Sells Pohokura Gas To Contact,Genesis, Multi Gas

The Wall Street Journal: Shell NZ Sells Pohokura Gas To Contact,Genesis, Multi Gas

 

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

May 21, 2004 2:57 a.m.

 

WELLINGTON — Shell New Zealand Ltd., a unit of Royal Dutch/Shell (RD), said Friday it has signed long-term contracts to supply three companies with gas from the offshore Pohokura field.

 

The contracts with electricity generator and retailer Contact Energy Ltd. (CEN.NZ), state-owned Genesis Power Ltd., and Multi Gas NZ Ltd. come into effect when the field starts production in mid-2006 and run until 2012 or longer, Shell said in a statement.

 

Shell owns 48% of the Pohokura field, which is offshore Taranaki on the west coast of the North Island. OMV NZ Ltd., a unit of Austria’s OMV Aktiengesellschaft (OMV.VI), and local energy investor Todd Ltd. each own 26%. read more

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Drug company finds the right remedy for fat-cat headlines

The Times: Drug company finds the right remedy for fat-cat headlines

 

By David Yelland

May 21, 2004   

 

“THE likelihood is I will never see that £18 million,” was the message from J. P. Garnier, GlaxoSmithKline’s embattled chief executive, at this week’s annual meeting as he successfully defended his remuneration package against the thronging hordes.

It was the correct message, underlining that Garnier’s pay depends on his ability to deliver success for the company.  

 

Last year, in an unprecedented instance of shareholder revolt, Garnier’s pay award was voted down at the annual meeting. But this year his £2.8 million base salary and his incentive package won the support of more than 80 per cent of shareholders who voted. read more

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Cook’s tenure at Shell Canada far too brief

TheGlobe&Mail.com: Cook’s tenure at Shell Canada far too brief

By DEBORAH YEDLIN

Friday, May 21, 2004 – Page B2

Well that didn’t last long, did it?

Linda Cook’s tenure as the first woman to lead an integrated oil and gas company in North America is going to be clocked at less than one year, not exactly what anyone expected, including Ms. Cook.

Back in September, barely a month after settling in the saddle as Shell Canada’s chief executive officer, Ms. Cook was “white hatted” in true Calgary fashion and welcomed into the disappointingly small circle of 70 prominent women from the city’s business community.
read more

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SHELL, MR JUSTICE LADDIE AND ‘JUSTICE’

20 May 2004

Lord Falconer of Thoroton
Secretary of State and the Lord Chancellor
Department for Constitutional Affairs
Selborne House
54-60 Victoria Street
London
SW1E 6QW

Dear Lord Falconer

SHELL, MR JUSTICE LADDIE AND “JUSTICE”

I note that one of the aims of your department is to “empower citizens to obtain justice, safeguard their rights and participate in a transparent and accountable democratic process”.

Presumably you agree that a fair and just civil trial requires the following fundamentally essential ingredients:- read more

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SHELL, MR JUSTICE LADDIE AND ‘JUSTICE’

20 May 2004

Lord Falconer of Thoroton                                              

Secretary of State and the Lord Chancellor                            

Department for Constitutional Affairs                                  

Selborne House                                                          

54-60 Victoria Street                                                    read more

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Los Angeles Times: Shell’s Refinery Shutdown: Standard Business Practice

Los Angeles Times: Shell’s Refinery Shutdown: Standard Business Practice

By Michael Hiltzik

May 20, 2004   

Every so often a major corporation, following its natural instinct to root out another few pennies of profit per share, drives blindly into a political quagmire. It leaves a community without employment by closing a factory, bulldozes a landmark to put up another drive-through restaurant, dumps wastewater in a bucolic swimming hole — you know the sort of thing.

These are salutary events in their way, because they remind people that as much as big businesses love to drape themselves in patriotism and good works, they’re not charities.
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Oakland Tribune: Boxer pointing finger at Shell

Oakland Tribune: Boxer pointing finger at Shell

By Associated Press

Posted 20 May 04

WASHINGTON — California Sen. Barbara Boxer accused Shell Oil on Tuesday of planning to begin shutting down its refinery in Bakersfield sooner than publicly disclosed. A company spokesman denied the allegation.

“My information is that Shell is planning to begin the shutdown process as early as August by taking production units off line,” Boxer wrote in a letter to the president of Shell, Lynn Laverty Elsenhans.

“To take refinery units off-line in August, when summer gas prices are at a peak, will only worsen the problem of insufficient supply. … If true, then your earlier statements of an October shutdown are not accurate.”
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A global threat buried

The Times: A global threat buried

By Anjana Ahuja

May 20, 2004

Energy companies hope that carbon dioxide — the ‘villain’ of global warming — can be stored safely in underground rock formations for thousands of years. Problem solved?

JUST EAST of Houston, Texas, lies an abandoned oilfield. It may be barren but it is by no means redundant. It has just become a testing ground for a technology that could prove crucial in the decades ahead.

American scientists have started trucking in lorryloads of liquefied carbon dioxide from a nearby BP oil refinery and pumping it into the rocks that lie above the emptied oil reservoir. Once underground, the theory goes, the gas will invade the mile-deep alternating layers of sand and shale, and push out the salty water that currently fills its pores. Barring any leakages, the gas will remain there for thousands of years, supposedly safely tucked away from the atmosphere and so unable to contribute to climate change.
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Sacramento Bee: Shell denies greed spurs the closure

Sacramento Bee: Shell denies greed spurs the closure

By Dale Kasler — Bee Staff Writer

Wednesday, May 19, 2004

BAKERSFIELD – In the furious debate over California’s gasoline prices, the Shell Oil refinery in Bakersfield – a forlorn mess of pipes and boilers on a state road choking on truck fumes – usually got overlooked. Until Shell decided to close it.

Set for an Oct. 1 shutdown, the refinery produces just a sliver of the state’s motor fuel but has been embraced as a cherished resource by economists, elected officials and consumer advocates. They say losing the refinery could be devastating in a market where the balance between supply and demand is extraordinarily delicate.
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AllAfrica.com: Task Force Stalls Closure of Shell Operations

AllAfrica.com: Task Force Stalls Closure of Shell Operations   

Vanguard (Lagos)

May 19, 2004

Osaro Okhomina

Warri

 

THE Men of the Joint Security Task Force, Operation Restore Hope, averted yesterday a possible closure of the operational activities of the Shell Development Company (SPDC) after Ten(10) wetland communities of the three Warri local government areas protested the alleged plan by the oil company to exclude them in the list of payment of surface rents and re-acquisition of expired leases for oil mining (OML) and Oil Prospecting Licences (OPL).

There was however no report of any violence but the communities from Warri South, Warri North and Warri South-west areas insisted that they would resist any attempt by the SPDC to exclude them from the list of beneficiaries of the payment of lease and rent not yet released by the company. Speaking to newsmen on behalf of the aggrieved wetland communities of Kantu, Omadina, Egbokodo, Ugborodo and others, Mr Godwin Eyitemi said they were ready to resist the alleged attempt by the SPDC to deprive them of payments due and meant to develop their areas.  read more

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Linda Cook

The Times: Need to Know: Global Business Briefing

Edited by Neelam Verjee and Joe Bolger

May 19, 2004

Royal Dutch/Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, has appointed Linda Cook, head of Shell Canada, as a new managing director to bolster a board which has been depleted by recent sackings.

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Street Sleuth: Oil-Price Forecasts Seem to Miss Upward Trend

The Wall Street Journal: Street Sleuth: Oil-Price Forecasts Seem to Miss Upward Trend

Wall Street Tends to Make Wrong Calls in Rallies; History Is No Assurance

By JUSTIN LAHART

Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

May 19, 2004; Page C3

Most energy watchers agree: The price of oil won’t remain above $40. But if the recent history of oil prices is any sort of guide, the slippery slope may lead upward.

Wall Street’s consistently wrong call on the price of a barrel of oil at any given time is perhaps most notable when the commodity is rallying. Recent lowball oil forecasts, in turn, help explain why Wall Street has produced low earnings forecasts for energy companies. The problem: Energy analysts by profession appear to assume a reversion to means when analyzing oil — that is, they assume any big move in price soon will be followed by a move back to the historical norm.
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The Independent: Shell moves to plug holes in management board

The Independent: Shell moves to plug holes in management board

By Michael Harrison

19 May 2004

Royal Dutch/Shell, the crisis-torn oil major, moved yesterday to strengthen its board by appointing the head of its Canadian operations to its committee of managing directors.

Linda Cook, the president and chief executive of Shell Canada, will join the board at the beginning of August, assuming responsibility for Shell’s gas and power operations.

She is the first new appointment to Shell’s committee of managing directors since the chairman Sir Philip Watts, the head of exploration and production Walter van de Vijver and the finance director Judy Boynton were sacked over the reserves misbooking scandal.
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Business, Agencies To Standardize Their Benchmarks

The Wall Street Journal: Business, Agencies To Standardize Their Benchmarks

By WILLIAM M. BULKELEY

Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

May 19, 2004; Page A2

In an effort to boost productivity, 14 corporations, government organizations and consultants have agreed to share and standardize performance benchmarks, in the same way that open-source software programmers share code.

The Open Standards Benchmarking Collaborative, which is scheduled to be unveiled today includes International Business Machines Corp., Procter & Gamble Co.; Shell Oil Co., a unit of Royal Dutch/Shell Group; the U.S. Navy and the World Bank.
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Shell to Name Cook A Managing Director

The Wall Street Journal: Shell to Name Cook A Managing Director

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

May 19, 2004

Royal Dutch/Shell Group said on Tuesday it would make Linda Cook, head of Shell Canada, a managing director from Aug. 1 to bolster a board depleted by recent sackings.

Ms. Cook, a veteran of more than 20 years with the company, will take on executive responsibility for gas and power from Malcolm Brinded. This will leave Mr. Brinded free to run the core oil-and-gas division, a task he took on after Walter van de Vijver was fired in March for his part in a scandal over overstated reserves.
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Daily Telegraph: Shell shift

Daily Telegraph: Shell shift

19 May 2004

Shell has appointed Linda Cook, former Shell Canada chief executive, to its committee of managing directors. She takes over the gas and power business from Malcolm Brinded, who also runs the exploration and production arm.

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The Scotsman: Cook joins Shell’s MD team to free Brinded for E&P role

The Scotsman: Cook joins Shell’s MD team to free Brinded for E&P role

MARTIN FLANAGAN

CITY EDITOR

Wed 19 May 2004

SHELL yesterday announced that the female chief executive of Shell Canada is to take control of the Anglo-Dutch oil giant’s gas and power operations in the latest major boardroom change following a spate of sackings.

The appointment of Linda Cook as a new managing director at Shell, subject to shareholder approval at a meeting on 28 June, is meant to free up Malcolm Brinded, the current boss of gas and power, to focus exclusively on the core exploration and production division.
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Reuters.com: At least three die in Shell Nigeria oil well fire

Reuters.com: At least three die in Shell Nigeria oil well fire

Posted 19 May 04

LAGOS, May 18 (Reuters) – At least three people died in a fire that engulfed Royal Dutch Shell’s disused Afam Well-16 in southeastern Nigeria, the company said on Tuesday.

Shell, Nigeria’s biggest producer, said in a statement the dead were members of a gang of suspected oil thieves who ruptured parts of the wellhead. A helicopter overfly sighted a burning tanker at the scene.

Shell said it had mobilised oil well fire experts Boots and Coots International to the facility because of the “intensity and complexity” of the inferno which has been raging since Sunday.
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New Californian Senate Panel To Examine Gasoline, Diesel Pricing

The Wall Street Journal: New Californian Senate Panel To Examine Gasoline, Diesel Pricing

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

May 19, 2004 7:31 a.m.

NEW YORK — A newly-formed California Senate committee will investigate oil companies’ market behavior in the face of record-high gasoline prices in the state, an aide to committee chairman Sen. Joseph Dunn, D-Santa Ana, said Tuesday.

Dunn’s Senate Select Committee on Gasoline and Diesel Pricing will be similar in design to a panel he chaired in 2001-2003 to examine electricity price manipulation during California’s energy crisis, the aide said.
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The Guardian: Responsible attitudes

The Guardian: Responsible attitudes

By Marc Lopatin

Wednesday May 19, 2004

Many companies now report on the social and environmental impacts of their activities as a way of enhancing their reputation. But is this just window-dressing for business-as-usual?

After years of defending itself from charges of worker exploitation, Gap, the clothing retailer, last week made the shock confession that many of its 3,000 factories across the world fail to comply with minimum labour standards.

Such an admission would have been unthinkable a few years ago when Shell dumped an oil platform in the North Sea. But while this corporate confession – unlike its theological equivalent – does not instantly absolve Gap from its responsibilities, it does demonstrate the changing role of business in society.
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Daily Mail: American woman for Shell board

Daily Mail: American woman for Shell board

19 May 2004,

TROUBLED oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell has opted to beef up its board with a company veteran rather than go outside for fresh blood.

American Linda Cook, 45, head of Shell Canada, becomes one of four managing directors at the company, bolstering a hierarchy depleted by the recent sackings of ex-chairman Sir Phil Watts, finance chief Judy Boynton and exploration boss Walter van de Vijver over the reserves debacle.

Cook, born in Kansas, joined Shell in 1980. She takes on her new job from 1 August. Her appointment will leave fellow managing director Malcolm Brinded free to run the core oil and gas division, at the centre of the scandal about overstated reserves.
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