March 7, 2008
Robin Pagnamenta
Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to pay $80 million (£39.8 million) to settle an American class action lawsuit related to a 2004 downgrade of the oil giant’s reserves.
Shell said that it had reached an agreement in principle with two pension funds, the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System and the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System. They had begun litigation after accusations that Shell had misled investors for years by overstating its reserves of oil and gas.
Shell added that the agreement would serve as a model for other US claims from investors who had bought shares between April 1999 and March 2004.
The agreement, which still needs to be approved by the US District Court of New Jersey, represents the same payout per share as agreed with another Anglo-Dutch group of investors last year, worth $353 million.
The company said: “The proposed US and Dutch settlements, if approved by the courts, would put an end to all pending litigation arising out of the 2004 reserves recategorisation.”
About 80 per cent of the group’s shareholders are based in the UK and Europe, with the remainder in the US. Shell has set aside $500 million in provisions for the reserves claims.
The episode in 2004 triggered a string of senior departures from the oil giant, including the then chairman Sir Philip Watts. It also led to a period of soul-searching at the company that ultimately forced it to end its unusual dual-listed structure between the UK and the Netherlands.
Despite placing a big focus on its exploration and production operation since 2004, Shell has still struggled to replace its existing reserves of oil and gas.
The Anglo-Dutch oil giant suffered a 6 per cent slump in daily oil production last year to 3.3 million barrels, down from 3.5 million in 2006.
Further details of Shell’s reserves base will be published on March 17 at a strategy briefing.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article3499000.ece
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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.
