Sydney Morning Herald: Oil price surge fires up Shell
By Christopher Hope
April 30, 2005
Shell, the oil and gas giant which is trying to recover its reputation after last year’s reserves scandal, posted a 48 per cent jump in first-quarter profits as a result of the surging oil price and high refining margins.
However, overall production fell 2 per cent to 3.85 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, excluding divestments. Shell has recently increased spending on exploration and production to ramp up its production rate.
Overall pretax profits rose 48 per cent to $US11.3 billion ($14.4 billion) on a 26 per cent rise in revenue to $US72.2 billion for the three months to March 31, helped by an oil price which for Shell averaged $US43.84 a barrel.
Like rival BP, Shell is planning to return some of its profits to shareholders. Finance director Peter Voser said between $US13 billion and $US15 billion would be given back to investors in the form of dividends and share buybacks.
Shell said that in the first quarter it spent $US500 million buying back and then cancelling its own shares, a process which can help to support the share price for other investors.
Chief executive Jeroen van der Veer brushed aside concerns about the low hydrocarbons’ ouput – oil production was down 8 per cent to 2.14 million barrels a day – claiming that the total figure was “at the higher end of expectation for the quarter”. Shell said it was still confident it would be able to increase its reserve replacement ratio to over 100 per cent over the next five years.
Shell, which last year revealed that it had overstated its proven oil and gas reserves by more than 25 per cent, is in talks with the US Securities and Exchange Commission over its reserves statements for 2004.
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.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
