Scotland On Sunday: Eyes on Shell again as new boss tries to fight back: “…Cairn Energy - the Edinburgh firm which looks set to rake in bucketloads of cash from Indian assets it bought for a song from Shell - officially begins trading on the FTSE100 tomorrow.” (ShellNews.net)

IAIN DEY

19 Sept 04

SHELL is set to find itself the centre of the market’s attention yet again this week as it unveils the findings of its strategic review.

The oil giant’s new chairman, Jeroen van der Veer, and his head of exploration, Malcolm Brinded, will try to draw a line under the reserves reporting scandal which hammered its shares earlier in the year.

But investors are expected to have to wait until November to hear details of any changes to its baroque corporate structure - which remains the biggest issue for the City.

Yet if he is to win back the support of the City, van der Veer will have to pull something out of the hat with Wednesday’s announcement. Analysts are keen to see more news on asset disposals, following on from a US$10bn sell-off programme which has already affected some of its downstream assets (petrol stations and refineries) in parts of Europe.

But there is some expectation that the firm could also tighten its production forecasts, predicting that output will fall as much as 5% both this year and next.

For those who like to make the comparison, it is also worth noting that Cairn Energy - the Edinburgh firm which looks set to rake in bucketloads of cash from Indian assets it bought for a song from Shell - officially begins trading on the FTSE100 tomorrow.

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/business.cfm?id=1098282004