ThisisLondon.com Shell reveals fresh setbacks

2 April 2004, Evening Standard

EMBATTLED oil giant Shell today admitted that a £1.5bn development off the coast of Nigeria has been delayed by a year while costs are mounting at a £5.5bn Russian gas project because of 'unexpected events'.

Shell, which has seen £5bn wiped off its market value and the resignation of chairman sir Philip Watts in the wake of revelations of massive overstatements of its oil and gas reserves, admitted that the deep-sea Bonga field off West Africa will not now come on line until next year despite previous guidance that it would start pumping in 2004.

The company said its Sakhalin Island project off Russia's Pacific coast is likely to cost over £1bn more than previously expected because of the inhospitability of the region. It said neither delay would affect its reported reserves.

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