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August 29th, 2004:

LNG promise seen to ward off oil price woes

Times of India: LNG promise seen to ward off oil price woes

“Scenario planners at Royal Dutch/Shell think that gas may surpass oil as the world’s most important energy source by 2025.”

AUGUST 27, 2004

Posted 28 August 04

Even as headlines scream about $50 a barrel oil, energy firms and their investors are becoming increasingly excited about its likeliest replacement: not wind nor wave nor solar power, but gasor, to be precise, gas that is frozen and transported as liquefied natural gas (LNG). This is expected to become as ubiquitous and crucial to the global economy as petroleum is today. Scenario planners at Royal Dutch/Shell think that gas may surpass oil as the world’s most important energy source by 2025. read more

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Sinopec, Shell Set Up Venture to Tap Retail Business in China

Bloomberg: Sinopec, Shell Set Up Venture to Tap Retail Business in China

Posted 29 August 04

Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) — China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia’s largest oil refiner, said it formed a venture with Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Europe’s second-largest oil company, to operate 500 gasoline stations in China’s Jiangsu province and develop new outlets.

The venture, with total investment of 1.5 billion ($187 million), is 60 percent owned by China Petroleum, or known as Sinopec, the company said in a press statement. Shell’s two wholly owned units in China own the remaining 40 percent, it said. read more

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

Oil finds fuel shareholders’ bid against Shell

Stuff.co.nz: Oil finds fuel shareholders’ bid against Shell

“to press their long-running $23 million insider trading case against Shell.”: “The High Court has already ruled the small shareholders had a case to take against Shell. That decision was upheld by the Appeal Court.”

29 August 2004

By GARRY SHEERAN

Spiralling oil share prices are spurring on shareholders in the former oil explorer Southern Petroleum to press their long-running $23 million insider trading case against Shell.

Shareholder spokesperson Tony Gavigan said he was confident they now had information to prove price-sensitive information was withheld from them during Fletcher Energy’s takeover of Southern Petroleum in 1995.

He said the new information emerged during a search of relevant documents as part of the legal “discovery” process in recent months. read more

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The Scotsman: Concerns over potential £3m windfall

The Scotsman: Concerns over potential £3m windfall

“Ensuing investigations by the US Securities and Exchanges Commission and the UK Financial Services Authority revealed that the oil major had been over-inflating its reserves since 1998, implicating the company’s top management in the scandal.”

CATRINA STEWART

Posted 29 August 2004

A CORPORATE governance watchdog has flagged concerns over share option rewards for disgraced Royal Dutch/Shell executives Sir Philip Watts and Walter van de Vijver.

Sir Philip and Van de Vijver, who resigned this year along with chief financial officer Judy Boynton over the reserves scandal at Shell, could reap windfalls of over £3 million apiece if the dual-listed company’s share price achieves certain levels, said the Pensions Investment Research Consultancy (Pirc) this week. read more

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

Shell plans bonus to rally workforce

Sunday Times: Shell plans bonus to rally workforce

“some staff in the exploration and production division had oil-reserves replacement as one of the targets that determined their pay.”

Lucinda Kemeny

August 29, 2004

ROYAL DUTCH/SHELL, the embattled oil giant, intends to launch a new, company-wide bonus scheme from January as an incentive for staff to work together to rebuild the company’s credibility.

The plans are still subject to staff negotiation in some countries, but about 90,000 people are expected to be covered by the arrangements.

Jeroen van der Veer, chairman of the committee of managing directors, said he hoped it would encourage staff to think “enterprise first” rather than “self first”. read more

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Daily Express: FAT CATS REWARD: SIR PHILIP Watts

Daily Express: FAT CATS REWARD: SIR PHILIP Watts

His deputy, Dutchman Walter van der Vijver, repeatedly warned him of the overstatement and finally exploded in an angry e-mail last November that he was “sick and tired of lying about the extent of our reserves”.

Published 28 August 2004

Company: Shell

Payoff: £1m

Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell shocked stock markets in January by admitting that it had overstated its proven gas and oil reserves by more than 20 per cent, the equivalent of a mind-boggling 4.47 billion barrels. Shell, long considered a safe haven by private investors and pension funds, saw £3bn wiped off its share value in the subsequent furore. Almost everybody with a pension will have been hit by the fallout.

Chairman Watts initially claimed he first heard about the shortfall at the end of 2003 but it was later reported that he was warned about the dangers in February 2002. His deputy, Dutchman Walter van der Vijver, repeatedly warned him of the overstatement and finally exploded in an angry e-mail last November that he was “sick and tired of lying about the extent of our reserves”. read more

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

THE BUSINESS: Regulators must bring Shell directors to book

THE BUSINESS: Regulators must bring Shell directors to book

“a deliberate attempt by Shell, over a number of years, not just a few months, to overstate their oil and gas reserves.”

29/31 August 04

THE reports by Britain’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) and America’s Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) into Shell’s overstating of reserves are far more damning than expected.

The two regulators conclude that there was intent to mislead on the part of Shell executives, some of whom, like former chief executive Sir Philip Wilts, have walked away with large payoffs.

So no simple arithmetical mistake, then. It was a deliberate attempt by Shell, over a number of years, not just a few months, to overstate their oil and gas reserves. read more

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

The Observer: We all pay price for murky gas market

The Observer: We all pay price for murky gas market

“Shell’s £84 million fine for falsifying its gas and oil reserve statements”

Consumers should not accept higher bills, says energy watchdog Allan Asher, who calls for the EU to intervene

Sunday August 29, 2004

Last week saw one of the least auspicious days in the life of the energy market: Shell’s £84 million fine for falsifying its gas and oil reserve statements, price spikes for wholesale gas breaking the 50 per cent barrier, British Gas announcing the single biggest energy price rise since liberalisation, and Powergen’s £700,000 fine for, wrongly, preventing consumers switching to the company of their choice. read more

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

Sunday Telegraph: Shell in Hell

Sunday Telegraph: Shell in Hell

29 August 2004

The oil giant has been heavily fined for overstating its reserves, but now looms the prospect of law suits against the individuals involved. Sylvia Pfeifer reports

The great and the good of the North Sea oil industry descended on the town of Stavanger in Norway last week for one of the sector’s annual get-togethers. But among the chief executives, politicians and royalty attending – Norway’s King Harald V opened the conference – there was only one man everyone wanted to see: Jeroen van der Veer. read more

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

Shell’s auditors in firing line as US lawyers prepare class action

Sunday Telegraph: Shell’s auditors in firing line as US lawyers prepare class action

“Shell had ignored internal warnings for several years that it was overstating its reserves to maintain the appearance of having a strong oil and gas reserves base”

By Sylvia Pfeifer (Filed: 29/08/2004)

The US law firm leading class action lawsuits against Shell is considering targeting the oil giant’s external auditors, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers, over their alleged role in the overbooking of reserves.

Stanley Bernstein, the senior partner with Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz, which is heading the class actions as “lead plaintiff” on behalf of investors, said that his firm was considering including the auditors when it files an amended complaint against Shell next month. read more

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