The Washington Times: U.K. joins U.S. in Royal Dutch/Shell probe

Posted 25 April 04

London, , Apr. 24 (UPI) -- Britain's main securities regulator has confirmed it's investigating the Royal Dutch/Shell oil group, the Times of London reported Saturday.

The U.K.'s Financial Services Authority said it was investigating "various issues" surrounding the Anglo-Dutch energy giant's recent restatements of its oil reserves.

Earlier this week, Shell released an internal report of its reserves debacle, including evidence that senior management -- including Sir Philip Watts, the former chairman, and Walter van de Vijver, the former head of exploration -- sought to conceal Shell's failure to replace oil and gas reserves and, notably, the overstatement of reserves by about four billion barrels.

The U.K. regulator is acting some three months after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began its inquiry into the misreporting of reserves and a month after Shell admitted the U.S. Justice Department has requested documents relating to the matter.

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040424-011628-1482r.htm