Bloomberg.com: Shell Says It's Reviewing Timing of Canada Reserves Revision

May 28 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Europe's second- largest oil company, said it is reviewing the timing of revisions to some proved natural gas reserves in Canada, after cutting its holdings four times this year.

Shell is looking into the timing of the removal from proved reserves from 2000 through 2003 of gas at Canada's Sable Island field, Shell Transport & Trading Co., Shell's U.K. parent company, said in its annual report. The amount of gas equals between 100 million to 150 million barrels of oil, Shell said.

``Upon completion of that review, management may conclude that these reserves should have been debooked prior to 2000,'' the report said. ``Management is satisfied that the reserves for Sable Island are properly estimated at the end of 2003.''

Shell, based in London and The Hague, has lowered its proved oil and gas reserves four times this year, most recently on Monday. The cuts in reserve estimates led to the ouster of Philip Watts as chairman in March and prompted regulatory probes in the U.S. and Europe.

Any impact on Shell's financial statements from a change in the timing of bookings at Sable Island would be ``insignificant,'' Shell said.

To contact the reporter on this story:

Alex Lawler in London  alawler@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor of this story:

Tim Coulter at  tcoulter@bloomberg.net

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