Washington Post: Shell Restates Profits: "revision followed an embarrassing series of disclosures"

Saturday, July 3, 2004; Page E02

The Royal/Dutch Shell Group said the overstatement of its proven oil and gas reserves and inappropriate accounting in other business segments resulted in profits being exaggerated by $432 million in years before 2003.

The revision followed an embarrassing series of disclosures that reduced the company's reported reserves by nearly one-quarter and led to the departure of several top executives. But because the oil giant also adopted some changes in how it will account for inventories, its newly reported net income for 2002 was actually higher than previously reported: $9.72 billion, up from $9.42 billion. It revised its 2001 net income to $10.35 billion, down from $10.85 billion.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24823-2004Jul2.html