Posts on ‘August 30th, 2006’

KARL WEST August 31 2006
 
American regulator the Securities & Exchange Commission yesterday confirmed it will be taking no action against Sir Philip Watts, former Shell chief executive, over the oil reserves overbooking scandal.

Watts and other senior managers were ousted after Shell admitted in early 2004 that it had deceived investors by overstating the size of its oil and gas reserves for years.

The revelation sent shockwaves through the market, hitting the group’s shares and leading to a major loss of investor confidence. read more

31 August 2006  
 
LAGOS -(Dow Jones)- Nigeria’s oil minister Wednesday appeared before a House committee to answer questions concerning an alleged underpayment to the government by a unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA), a private television station reported.

Channels TV said that Minister of State for Petroleum Edmund Daukoru presented the Committee on Petroleum a value-for-money audit report that the committee has said is vital to its investigation.

The committee had invited him to testify about an alleged underpayment of $3.2 billion for crude oil shipped by Shell Petroleum Development Co. of Nigeria, or SPDC. read more

August 31, 2006

Analysis by Patrick Hosking
 
THE worst scandal to hit Shell in its 170-year history came out of the blue one January morning in 2004.

Shell executives confessed in a conference call to amazed City analysts that the company’s reserves of oil and gas had been overstated by 25 per cent. 
 
They admitted that reserves — from Nigeria to Australia to Russia — that had been described as proven were, in fact, much less certain of being exploited. All told, they had exaggerated the company’s energy wealth by 3.9 billion barrels, enough to supply the world for 50 days. read more

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
August 30, 2006 3:32 p.m.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has decided to take no action against the former Royal Dutch Shell PLC boss over a reserves overbooking scandal, his lawyer said Wednesday.

The SEC conducted a two-year joint investigation with the U.K.’s Financial Services Authority and concluded that no action should be taken against Philip Watts, the former chairman of Shell’s committee of managing directors.

“I am extremely pleased that the U.S. authorities have closed the investigation…. I had every reason to believe that all at Shell acted properly and in good faith when disclosing proved reserves,” Sir Philip was quoted as saying in a statement. read more

By Jim Jelter, MarketWatch
Last Update: 2:52 PM ET Aug 30, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped its two-year investigation of Philip Watts, the former Royal Dutch Shell chairman, deciding to take no action against him for the company’s overstatement of its oil and gas reserves, according to media reports Wednesday.

News in early 2004 that the Anglo-Dutch oil giant had inflated its reserves by at least 20% dealt a severe blow to Shell’s share price, as shaken investors fled the company amid a flurry of lawsuits. read more

Wed 30 Aug 2006
 
Russia tells Shell to review pipelines

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s environmental watchdog, which has already ordered to Royal Dutch Shell to stop work on onshore pipelines on Sakhalin, said on Wednesday the group needed to redraw the plan.

“Onshore pipeline construction can be resumed only after the project is reworked, that it meets all environmental requirements and is discussed with scientists and independent environmental organisations,” the resources ministry said in a statement. read more

SEC Concludes Investigation of Royal Dutch/Shell’s Former Chairman
Last Update: 1:13 PM ET Aug 30, 2006

WASHINGTON, Aug 30, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Late yesterday, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) provided notice that it had completed its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the recategorization of proved oil and gas reserves by Royal Dutch Shell in 2004.

The SEC, which conducted a two-year joint investigation with the United Kingdom’s Financial Services Authority (“FSA”), has concluded that no action should be taken against Sir Philip Watts, the former Chairman of Shell’s Committee of Managing Directors. read more

By Upstream staff

Nigerian oil unions met today to discuss deteriorating security in the Niger Delta and union leaders said a complete withdrawal of their members from Africa’s oil heartland was one option to be considered.

But oil company sources said an ultimatum to the government over kidnappings and attacks on oil installations was a more likely outcome of the meeting in the southern city of Benin.

“Security is our main priority. Proposals include but are not limited to a complete pullout. Other options are an ultimatum or a warning,” said Lumbumba Okugba, deputy secretary-general of the white collar Pengassan union. read more

Wednesday, 30th August 2006 13:08

LONDON (AFX) – The US Securities and Exchange Commission has concluded its investigation on Philip Watts, former chairman of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, regarding his role on the Anglo-Dutch oil major’s oil reserves crisis in 2004, according to Watt’s lawyers.

The SEC, which conducted a two-year joint investigation with the UK’s Financial Services Authority, has concluded that ‘no action should be taken’ against Watts, they said. read more

By Upstream staff

The US Securities & Exchange Commission has decided to take no action against former Shell boss Phil Watts over a reserves overbooking scandal, Watts’ lawyers said today.

Watts and other senior managers were ousted after Shell admitted in early 2004 that it had overstated the size of its oil and gas reserves for years.

The revelation hit the company’s shares hard and led to a loss of investor confidence.

However, Watts defended his record as head of the world’s third-largest fully publicly traded oil and gas company by market capitalisation. read more

Wednesday August 30th, 2006 / 11h15 
 
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- The Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB)-led joint venture in Nigeria confirmed late Tuesday that a local employee was killed following a clash 10 days ago between the military and rebels in the Niger Delta, a development that raises the specter of strike action at a meeting between oil unions Wednesday, a union leader said.

The Shell Petroleum Development Co. said in a statement that the body of community relations employee Nelson Ujeya had been found Tuesday, following an incident Aug. 20.
Ujeya, who had been kidnapped by Niger Delta militants, “was said to be in a convoy of boats, together with Bayelsa State Government representatives, Community Chiefs and a number of militants, when there was an exchange of gunfire between some members of the (government) Joint Task Force and the militants,” the statement said. read more

U.S. Panel, Justice Dept. to Examine Firm’s Oil and Gas Trading

By Stephen Voss and Mathew Carr
Bloomberg News
Wednesday, August 30, 2006; Page D02

BP PLC, the world’s third-largest oil company, is under investigation by U.S. authorities for possible manipulation of crude oil and gasoline markets, a further blow to a reputation that has already suffered from recent oil spills in Alaska.

The crude oil inquiry is being led by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates futures markets, and the Justice Department is probing the company’s gasoline trades, BP spokesman Robert Wine in London said. BP is “cooperating fully,” he said.
 
BP and chief executive John Browne already face investigations in the United States over an Alaskan oil spill, a refinery explosion in Texas that killed 15 people in 2005 and an alleged plot to manipulate propane prices. The U.S. setbacks have contributed to a 16 percent drop in BP shares since April 24, compared with a 7.4 percent jump at Exxon Mobil Corp, the world’s largest oil company. read more

By Rebecca Bream

Published: August 30 2006 03:00 | Last updated: August 30 2006 03:00

BP has revealed that it now faces two investigations into its trading activities in the US, adding to its troubles following the forced shutdown of its Prudhoe Bay field in Alaska.

The oil major yesterday confirmed media reports that it was being probed over its trading of crude oil and gasoline.

The crude oil inquiry is led by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which regulates futures markets, while the US Department of Justice is looking into some of BP’s gasoline trades. read more

Comment posted on The Scotsman article: “FTSE boosted by oil on troubled water”

http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1277052006#new 

BP and Shell have both made extravagant claims in multimillion dollar global advertising campaigns about their lofty business ethics and undying commitment to the environment.

The reality is rather different. Many of their own workers lives have been lost in recent years due to management giving a higher priority to production and profits than the safety of their workers (e.g. Shell Brent Bravo). read more

EXTRACT: BP’s fall from grace comes after a period in the limelight when its rival Shell had sacked its chairman after regulators found it guilty of overbooking reserves. It took 18 months for Shell’s share price to recover.

THE ARTICLE

· Investigators look at crude oil and petrol trading
· Browne called to testify in person over Texas fire

Terry Macalister
Wednesday August 30, 2006

BP faced a further serious attack on its integrity yesterday with the disclosure that US federal investigators were looking into allegations it had manipulated oil and unleaded petrol markets. read more