Royal Dutch Shell Group .com

("This is a fraud that was orchestrated apparently at the highest levels of the company, extending over many, many years, and executed knowing that this is defrauding the public.")

Sacramento Bee: Shell denies greed spurs the closure

BBC News: Shell trims back reserves again -Can Shell draw a line under the scandal?

Financial Times: Shell aims to Shed arrogant reputation

Daily Telegraph: Watts' pension pot tops £10m

news-press.com: Shell Oil replaces sulfur-tainted gasoline

JUNE 2004

Local10.com: Tainted Gas Leads To Class-Action Suit: Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Shell Oil: 2 June 2004

The Wall Street Journal: US Court Reinstates Shell, ChevronTexaco Price Fixing Suit: 1 June 2004

The Independent: “Even those clowns at Shell": 5 June 2004

Mail on Sunday: Chairman Jeroen van der Veer in frame over Shell scandal – could lead to 20 years in jail: 6 June 2004

nbc6.net: Another Class-Action Lawsuit Filed Against Shell Over Tainted Gas; “Another day, another lawsuit for Shell Oil": 9 June 2004

Daily Mail: Shell aims to quell rebellion: "The National Association of Pension Funds... is preparing to publish its report into the scandal-hit oil giant this week": 14 June 2004

Radio Netherlands: Oil and Ethics: 15 June 2004

THE ABOVE ARE A SELECTION OF ARTICLES PUBLISHED PRIOR TO EIGHT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL COMPANIES ISSUING DEFAMATION PROCEEDINGS AGAINST SHELL WHISTLEBLOWER DR JOHN HUONG FOR ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JUNE 2004 ON THIS WEBSITE UNDER HIS NAME

STILL JUNE 2004

The Guardian: Shell tries to win friends as it owns up to mistakes: 15 June 2004

Times-Picayune: Company can't say which locations sold the tainted gasoline: 16 June 2004

The Guardian: 'I'm really very worried for the planet': Ron Oxburgh is chipping away at the fossilised thinking that cost Shell its reputation: 17 June 2004

The Times: Double Dutch: Once again, Shell has managed to strike negative publicity where it was thought that none could be found: 17 June 2004

Financial Times: How Shell changed its culture and lost its way: Or, as a "shocked, dismayed and ashamed" Mr van der Veer put it: "We have more problems than just the reserves issue.": 18 June 2004

USNewsWires.com: Regulators Given Internal Shell Documents: "provide incontrovertible evidence the company has once again misled California…”

The Times: The lost Arabic school for scandal: “the spy school": 22 June 2004

TheAdvocate.com: Woman sues Shell Oil, refinery for damage caused by gasoline: 23 June 2004

The Independent: Shell hires new finance director after reserves scandal 25 June 2004

London Evening Standard: Shell 'has lied for 10 years': 25 June 2004

The Independent: Shell hires new finance director after reserves scandal: 25 June 2004

London Evening Standard: SHAMED “Shell chairman Sir Philip Watts has secured a pay-off worth more than £1m in cash plus stock options potentially worth £6m more”: 25 June 2004

Reuters.com: Shell says Watts pay-off does not rule out legal action: "Asked if the announcement earlier in the day of a one million pound settlement meant the company SHEL.L had decided not to sue its disgraced boss, a spokesman said on Friday, "We cannot speculate on the outcome and implications of external investigations.": 25 June 2004

ChannelNewsAsia: Shell hit by new lawsuit in US over reserves scandal: “fresh lawsuit names 27 directors and officers of Royal Dutch/Shell, and also their accounting and audit firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers International and KPMG International": 26 June 2004

Financial Times: Pension funds file suit on behalf of Shell: 26 June 2004

NewsDay.com: Shell pays former executive nearly $2 million in severance: PLUS "lawsuit... suggests the defendants forfeit salaries, bonuses, stock awards, profits and special benefits for violating their fiduciary duties": 26 June 2004

Daily Telegraph: Sacked Shell boss walks away with £1m: “despite his role in the oil giant's reserves debacle": 26 June 2004

Paper by Alfred Donovan prepared for presentation at the National Union of Ogoni Students (NUOS International, USA) Convention in Lincoln, Nebraska, held on 26/27 June 2004

LETTER TO WILLIAM LERACH, US CLASS ACTION LAWYER: INCONTROVERTIBLE DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE OF SHELL DELIBERATELY HIDING INFORMATION FROM ITS SHAREHOLDERS FROM 1994 ONWARDS: 26 June 2004

ChannelNewsAsia.com: Embattled Shell braces for shareholder showdown: “officers and directors of these interconnected companies have hidden behind an opaque and complicated corporate structure to falsify proved oil and gas reserves for nearly 10 years": 27 June 2004

The Observer: Ethical funds dump Shell shares: “blue-chip City institutions have confirmed that they have ditched all their Shell shares”": 27 June 2004

Taipei Times: Former chairman of Royal/Dutch Shell gets giant payout: "after an accounting scandal": 27 June 2004

BBC News: Shell appeals to shareholders' patience "You are still covering up the scandal," the heckler cried to some applause,": 28 June 2004

The Guardian: Shareholders vent anger over Shell scandal: 28 June 2004

The New York Times: Shell Asks Shareholders for Forgiveness: 28 June 2004

Oil & Gas Journal: Pension funds sue Shell brass, auditors, seeking damages, policy changes": 28 June 2005 (This claim resulted in a multi-million dollar settlement by Shell in 2005)

Daily Telegraph: Shell's board survive: No wonder Shell is in such a mess: 29 June 2004

The Guardian: Shell investors vent fury on 'incompetent' board: "This company is giving world class salaries to non-executives for a world class scandal.": 29 June 2004

The New York Times: Testy Annual Meeting Focuses on Shell's Scandal: “A few of Shell's top executives mislead shareholders and the financial world, he said. ”In the United States,'' he said, "they'd have been taken away in handcuffs.": 29 June 2004

Business Report (SA) Shell chairman to view problems at Sapref, says activist: "Shareholders are tired of Shell's lying and spinning": “a chorus of disillusionment over its integrity and transparency": 29 June 2004

Toronto Star: Oil giant's brass beg for pardon and time: Contrition expressed at Royal Dutch/Shell: Reserve-booking fiasco stays at centre stage: 29 June 2004

The Times: Investors snub Shell in vote on liability: “When this scandal came up, Sir Mark was present. Why did he allow this departure from Shell’s business principles? He should resign from all his other directorships.": 29 June 2004

The Independent: Investors lambast Shell over ousted chairman's £1m pay-off: “the £1.06m pay-off for Sir Philip Watts proved that, even under new leadership, the company was still living in "a parallel universe": 29 June 2004

The Independent: Still Shell-shocked: “a company which is obviously still in denial": 29 June 2004

JULY 2004

Daily Telegraph: Shell to clean up its act with assets sales: “struggling to restore its reputation": 2 July 2004

The Wall Street Journal: Shell Will Take Quarterly Charge Of $330 Million: “reserves-booking scandal this year exposing Shell's need for new reserves": 2 July 2004

Toronto Star: Shell reduces profit over reserves $276 million U.S. overstatement: “Filing reveals impact of debacle”: "inappropriate" accounting in other areas": 3 July 2004

Washington Post: Shell Restates Profits: "revision followed an embarrassing series of disclosures": 3 July 2004

The New York Times: Shell Says It Overstated Profits by $276M: "profits.. exaggerated.."; "inappropriate accounting.."-"resulted in profits being embellished": 3 July 2004

The Observer: Bad publicity - not goodbye, but good buy: “Shell illustrates how a steady barrage of negative publicity can bring a company to its knees”: “The company's reputation is now in tatters”: "We list the latest batch of leaders and laggards in the corporate publicity league in the accompanying table. These rankings are based upon news reports in the last three months. The current '10 worst' list is led by Shell.": 4 July 2004

The Observer: Counting the wrong beans: 'At some stage something happened to Shell's values that made it acceptable to put up figures that weren't completely above board,': 4 July 2004

News Leader.com Shell admits overstating its profits: "also made errors in the way it accounted for exploration costs, certain gas contracts and earnings per share of its parent companies": 4 July 2004

Sunday Telegraph: BP reserves the right to go its own way: “in the wake of the scandal at Royal Dutch/Shell": 4 July 2004

Business Day: Overstatement raised oil giant's profit by $432m: “Last Monday the leaders of Royal Dutch/Shell asked shareholders for forgiveness and time to revamp the oil giant.": 5 July 2004

nzherald.co.nz: Shell takes profit hit: “profits being exaggerated”: "inappropriate accounting”: “profits being embellished": 5 July 2004

LETTER FAXED TO MALAYSIAN HIGH COURT JUDGE 5 July 2004

Email from Mr Charles Wiwa, nephew of the late Nobel Laureate Ken Saro-Wiwi: "...we trust that our weapon of TRUTH will prevail over the evil tendencies of the 'multi-national goliath'": 8 July 2004

Financial Times: Shelled out: “If only the executives of Royal Dutch/Shell, under fire over its reserves debacle, could achieve redemption so easily": 9 July 2004

Financial Times: S&P raises concerns over Shell review: “battered by a scandal": 9 July 2004

Financial Times: Shell edges closer to shake-up: “in the wake of the Anglo-Dutch oil group's reserves crisis": 9 July 2004

The Wall Street Journal: Shell Sold 24% Of Its Malaysian Refining Company Thursday: “dogged for months by a scandal over the accounting of its oil and natural gas reserves": 9 July 2004

The Times: SHELL SHOCK: The Money Programme provides a clear and merciless indictment of Shell, a company that prided itself on being a safe investment for widows and orphans: "...Walter van de Vijver, was appalled and fired off numerous warnings. “I am becoming sick and tired,” he wrote, “of lying about the extent of our reserves.”: 10 July 2004

Daily Telegraph: Shell accounts change brings $226m upgrade: “Shell has been plunged into crisis after admitting that it had overstated its "proven" oil and gas reserves by 23pc": 14 July 2005

The Wall Street Journal: Shell's Outside Auditors Got Warning on Reserves in 2002: “The documents also suggest that some potential reserves problems at Shell were much more widely known and discussed": "Shell's reserves-accounting scandal raises new questions about the responsibility of independent auditors." 15 July 2004

London Evening Standard: Shell alarm two years before scandal: “SHELL'S external auditors were warned the oil giant was inflating its energy reserves two years before the company finally came clean": 15 July 2004

Reuters: Outside auditors warned on Shell reserves: “documents… indicate problems were flagged repeatedly to a wider circle of senior executives and board members than previously disclosed": 15 July 2004

BBC TV: Oil giant Shell's investors shocked: “that's fraud in the United States and the Justice Department will have a basis for criminally prosecuting the executives": 15 July 2004

The Times: SHELL SHOCK: BBC Two, 9.50pm: “I am becoming sick and tired,” he wrote, “of lying about the extent of our reserves.": 15 July 2005

The Times: Shell tipped to merge UK and Dutch parents: “Shell is under intense pressure to streamline its complex board structure after the reserves misreporting scandal": 15 July 2005

The Scotsman: Shell tight-lipped on claim: “TROUBLED Shell was involved in fresh turbulence yesterday as it stonewalled questions": 16 July 2004

The Guardian: Shell had early reserves warning: “Shell admitted yesterday that it had been warned about inflated reserves before it was forced to issue the first of four downgrades this year.": 16 July 2004

SHELL2004.com: UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT BBC2 TV “THE MONEY PROGRAMME”, BROADCAST 15 JULY 2004, 9.50pm: 17 July 2004 - For extracts from the content read below: -

ShellNews.net commentary on the content: Stanley Bernstein of Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz LLP, the lead US plaintiff lawyers bringing a class action case against Shell for Pennsylvanian State Retirement Funds, described the scandal on the BBC TV Money Programme in the following terms: "There are a lot of investors and many maybe more investors that were affected by this fraud than any other fraud in history". The following are extracts from the same programme broadcast on 15 July 2004.

Comments about current Shell Chief Executive, Jeroen van der Veer: "signed statements declaring that the submission known as a 20F was a true and faithful description of Shell’s reserves"; "He signed false financial statements"; "he signed certifications that the financial statements met with SEC guidelines."

Comments about the Royal Dutch Shell Committee of Managing Directors (the CMD): "And what about the Committee of Managing Directors? They too had received a much stronger warning about fooling the market. Jeroem van der Veer and the rest of the CMD still took no action."

DESCRIPTIONS USED ABOUT THE CONDUCT OF SHELL MANAGEMENT: "deceit"; "false pretences"; "falsely exaggerating"; "misled the world"; "basically they had been told a lie"; "embellished on the numbers"; "exaggerated the numbers"; "basically we lied to you"; "cover it up"; "doctoring the books"; "inventing numbers"; "certifying the reserve which he knows doesn’t exist"; "reserves replacement and production growth were inflated"; "I am becoming sick and tired of lying about the extent of our reserves"; "cover-up"; "actually destroyed documents"; "the scandal blew up and the company’s reputation carefully nurtured over a century was destroyed"; "Shell has lied intentionally and deceived the public" ; "now they know that Shell lied to them and cost them money"; "a fraud perpetrated over a long period of time"; "a fraud perpetrated by the very heads of the company".

There was none of the usual caveats which precede statements or comments which would otherwise be labelled as libellous: e.g. "allegedly". The above descriptions were applied during the BBC TV programme without any such qualification. They were put on record as statements of FACT.

The Guardian: worthwhile policy or simply propaganda?: Or take Shell. It suffered a series of public relations disasters in the mid-90s, notably the Brent Spar oil rig disposal fiasco and its association with human rights abuses in Nigeria. These debacles spurred it on to spend millions on rebranding, wooing environmentalists and human rights groups and investing in renewable energy. Yet, having done all that, it now finds a lot of its good work undone by the financial scandal of its under-reporting of oil reserves.17 July 2004

The Sunday Times: Market Mover: Richard Dunn: “As the Shell scandal proves, there are reserve issues with some of the major oil companies": 18 July 2004

Financial Times: Shell in move to reduce its legal costs: a host of civil lawsuits following its admission that it overstated its oil and natural gas reserves”: “550 in-house lawyers": 20 July 2004

The Guardian: Nigerianisation: Shell's solution for troubled delta: “The reserves scandal that led to Sir Philip's removal in part related to Nigeria": 21 July 2004

The Wall Street Journal: SEC May Require Auditors To Sign Off on Oil, Gas Reserves: “SEC's re-evaluation of its rules comes on the heels of the accounting scandal": 21 July 2004

The New York Times: House Panel to Begin a Hearing on Shell's Reserve Scandal: "Shell officials were asked to testify, but will not, the company said.": 21 July 2004

LA Times: "scandal at Shell oil": SEC Weighs Requiring Certified Reserves: 'overstatement of its proven reserves and "inappropriate" accounting in other business areas resulted in profits being inflated by $432 million.': 21 July 2004

CBCNews: Shell to compensate Quebec motorists for damage caused by gas additive: “Hundreds of thousands of Quebec motorists may be eligible to receive money from Shell as part of a settlement of a class-action lawsuit.": 21 July 2004

CJAD.com: Shell Canada disputes $100 million figure in suit involving Quebec drivers; "related to a fuel additive the company used in 2001 and 2002": 22 July 2004

The Times: US watchdog under fire over oil reserves scandal: “House Committee on Financial Services convened a hearing on the Shell reserves scandal.": 22 July 2004

The Wall Street Journal: Shell Canada Settles Suit Involving Quebec Drivers –CP: "Shell Canada could pay up to $100 million to about 500,000 Quebec drivers": 22 July 2004

National Post: Shell Canada settles Quebec class-action suit: “Radio-Canada reported Shell Canada could pay as much as $100-million": 22 July 2004

London Evening Standard: How BP lords it over Shell: “looking ahead, one is in terrific shape, the other could be in terrible trouble”: “Shell's reputation among investors lies in tatters": 25 July 2004

London Evening Standard: The oil giants' scorecard: "How they add up: BP 66, Shell 49": "Shell Desperately needs to find more oil after the reserves debacle”: “Bonuses for the executive team for 2003 were scrapped in the light of the reserves scandal" 25 July 2004

Bloomberg.com: BP, Shell, Eni Results May Put European Oil-Stock Gains at Risk: “The company disclosed in January it overstated oil reserves for more than five years.": 26 July 2004

Financial Times: Oil sector governance: “Royal Dutch/Shell's reserves downgrade was a dramatic failure of corporate oversight.”: “Good reputations take time to build, but are quickly lost.": 26 July 2004

Business Week: Can Shell Put Out This Oil Fire? "a devastating portrait of Shell as a dysfunctional company”: "The two boards should move quickly to find a successor to the 56-year-old van der Veer, who looks like a caretaker.": 26 July 2004

Reuters: BP profits at bottom of forecasts: “has outshone scandal-hit rival Royal Dutch/Shell": 27 July 2004

Fortune.com: Is Shell Ready to Rebound? "Forget Iraq and Iran," says Gheit. "Royal Dutch/Shell needs a regime change.": 27 July 2004

Fortune.com: Now If Only Shell Could Find Some Oil: Forget the reserve drama: At the current rate, Shell will run out of oil in a decade: "Shell will be a no-growth company at least for the next few years.": 27 July 2004

Financial Times: BP earnings rise 23% as week of good news begins: "Shell was especially hit this year by the scandal that revealed it had wrongly booked more than 20 per cent of its reserves" 28 July 2004

The Guardian: Kremlin soothes BP over trading in Russia: “now was the opportune time to make a takeover move for Shell, whose share price has been battered by slow growth and the oil reserves scandal.": 28 July 2004

The Guardian: High oil prices boost BP profits: “outshone its scandal-hit rival Royal Dutch/Shell this year": 28 July 2004

Thursday 29 July, 2004

Wall Street Journal: Shell Transport To Resolve FSA And SEC Investigations: "Shell to cease and desist from future violations of, the antifraud, reporting, recordkeeping and internal control provisions... SEC rules.”

Wall Street Journal: Royal Dutch/Shell 2Q Net Profit $4.0B: “Management… remains unable…to estimate…possible losses from the entire set of regulatory and other actions and litigation in relation to the reserves restatement.”

The Scotsman: Shell Fined £65M after Reserves Crisis: “inquiry which found that Shell violated reporting, record-keeping and anti-trust rules.”

Reuters: Shell pays fines for reserves woes: “Royal Dutch/Shell will pay about $150 million (82 million pounds) in fines for an oil reserves scandal that tarnished its reputation”

TheStarOnline: Shell fined US$120 million "Rebuilding credibility'' and "regaining trust'' are now the company's key priorities, it said in its annual report.”

BBC NEWS: Shell fined over reserves scandal: “will pay a penalty of £17m to the FSA - the biggest fine ever imposed by the regulator - and a $120m (£65.7m) civil penalty in the US.

London Evening Standard: Shell pays over reserves scandal: “It still faces a host of multi-billion dollar class-action lawsuits and a US Department of Justice probe.”: "Shell revealed today production was likely to remain flat until 2007 at best"

Bloomberg: Shell Pays $150 Million to End Probe; Output May Fall: “hopeful step in ending the reserves debacle that led to the ouster of three senior executives, the loss of a top-tier investment rating and more than a dozen shareholder lawsuits”

Yahoo.com: SEC Settlement With Royal Dutch Shell Fails to Fix Governance Flaws That Allowed Fraud to Occur and Fails to Hold Executives Personally Accountable for Over $150 Million in Fines

Friday 30 July, 2004

The Times: Simple solutions are best for Shell: “One of the world’s most trusted investments lost its credibility and its top credit rating.”: "directors and top managers were the authors of Shell’s misfortunes"

The Times: Shell and BASF set to sell $6bn plastics business : “first strategic move for the Anglo-Dutch oil company since becoming mired in its oil reserves scandal in January.”

The Times: Shell agrees to pay fines of £83m: “continuing criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice.”: “Both Euronext and AFM, the Dutch securities institute, are also investigating Shell”

Financial Times: Shell pays $151m to watchdogs: “Thursday's announcement has no bearing on the civil and criminal cases against individuals linked to the company.”

Financial Times: US watchdog shows its teeth: "Parmalat"; "Enron"; "Shell"

AccountancyAge.com: Shell pays huge penalties to regulators: “Shell also confirmed that it breached market abuse provisions of the FSA's Financial Services and Markets Act 2000”

Business Report: Shell gets hefty fine for reserves fiasco : “The SEC found the Anglo-Dutch group had violated reporting, record-keeping and anti-trust rules”

The Washington Times: Shell agrees on penalty to settle charges: “While trying to put the scandal behind it, Shell reported a 16 percent increase in underlying second-quarter profits thanks to higher oil prices.”

Financial Times: Setting the scene: "Shell expects hostile takeover bids from BP and ExxonMobil within the next few months. These bids will be followed by a successful 'white knight' bid from Total”

Financial Times: Shell fighter begins the big clean-up: “it could itself become a bid target”; “if you get it hopelessly wrong, then people start sniffing around.": "In answer to a question about whether they are sniffing now, he said: "You will have to ask the sniffers"

Financial Times: UK and US regulators team up and levy £83m in penalties: “more robust policing since the Enron scandal broke in 2001.”

The Independent: Shell's road to redemption remains a long one: “An extradition battle involving Shell's former chairman Sir Phil Watts would provide splendid entertainment but it would also guarantee plenty more bad headlines”

The Independent: Shell pays £83m fine to settle scandal over oil reserves: “Shell and a number of former and serving directors are also still under criminal investigation by the US Justice Department”

The Boston Globe: Shell to pay $151m to settle misstatements: “fails to hold personally accountable the corporate insiders who perpetrated the fraud,"

Daily Telegraph: Shell to pay watchdogs £80m for oil reserves row: “but warned it could not put a figure on the cost of investor lawsuits.”

The Wall Street Journal: Shell to Pay $150 Million in Penalties: “Shell also has arranged with U.S. authorities to grant Dutch and British employees special diplomatic safe passage to and from American shores”

New York Times: Shell to Pay $150 Million in Settlement on Reserves: "production fell 5 percent to the equivalent of 3.58 million barrels of oil a day": "The underlying numbers are 'pretty horrendous,' said Neil McMahon, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein in London,": “Separately, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said… Shell's energy trading unit, Coral Energy Resources, had agreed to pay $30 million to settle accusations that it had submitted FALSE price data to publishers"

Daily Mail: Shell is beached in the past: “there are deep-seated problems at Shell that go far beyond fiddling the numbers to make the reserves look better than they were.”: “exploration and production look dire”

FT: An ocean of difference across the Atlantic: “It still faces a regulatory inquiry in the Netherlands, potential criminal investigation by the US Justice Department and myriad class action suits. They form a pretty powerful deterrent against following Shell's abuse of the markets."

FT: Shell files revised statement with SEC: The revision was necessary because of the Dutch-UK oil and gas group's serial restatements of proved reserves earlier this year.

FT: Settling the bill but not the issues: “companies also tend to look to their more reputable peers, of which Shell used to be one. This is no longer the case.”: “whether a management that lied to its biggest shareholders would have any compunction doing the same to Nigerian villagers.": 30 July 2004

Saturday 31 July, 2004

The Guardian: Shell fined £84m over reserves scandal: “Shell is facing a criminal investigation by the US department of justice, ongoing inquiries by the Dutch financial market regulator and the Euronext stock exchange as well as litigation in the US”

The Wall Street Journal: Moody's Confirms Aa1 Ratings Of Royal Dutch Shell Entities: “the negative outlook reflects uncertainties”: “Another factor implicit in the negative outlook”

The Wall Street Journal: Moody's Cuts Motiva Enterprises L-T Debt To A2: “The long-term rating downgrade primarily reflects the impact of Moody's downgrade in May 2004 of Motiva's 50% owner, Shell Oil”

The Wall Street Journal: Shell SEC Deal Fails To Solve Governance Issues – Lawyer: “accuses executives and board members of numerous wrongdoings - including breach of fiduciary duty and fraud”

The Wall Street Journal: UK Market Regulator Earns Stripes With Shell Fine: “"The Shell case, by raising the stakes so dramatically for the FSA, is kind of another way of rattling the handcuffs."

The Guardian: British watchdog catches up with US hare: “Shell faces the prospect of a string of civil actions from shareholders who feel duped.”

Financial Times: Victims punished at Shell: “The FSA justifies the fine by saying it has to send a signal to the market about unacceptable behaviour.": 2 August 2004

Financial Times: Lament of the Shell shareholder The penalty is the equivalent to the imposition of a fine on a victim of a robbery rather than on the perpetrator!: 3 August 2004

Reuters: Shell to unify boards: 3 August 2004

Daily Herald: County wants changes from Shell: “illegal dumping of 201 tons of benzene-tainted soil”: "We have found problems with the procedures Shell followed," said county board Chairman Mike McCoy. "It was more than just a simple, honest mistake.": 5 August 2004

The Guardian: Corporate battle lines: "stories of corporate fraud, unbridled greed and negligent auditing, have given much support to the Galbraithian thesis": “How different are the skills required to succeed in, say, Shell, from those needed in the Treasury? (Apart of course from the need in the former case to cultivate a blind eye.)": 7 August 2004

The Independent: Bill Gammell: A £2.2bn Indian summer for rugby international who struck black gold: “And Cairn's success will be all the more satisfying because it came at the expense of the oil giant Shell": 11 August 2004

The New York Times: Gas Traders, Supervisors Face Probe: “commission collected a total of about $250 million in penalties… $30 million from Coral Energy Resources, a Houston-based trading subsidiary of Shell: "11 August 2004

Reuters: Ex-Shell director gets 2.5 million pounds: “Walter van de Vijver": "Former Royal Dutch/Shell director Walter van de Vijver, who resigned after a reserves scandal at the oil giant...":12 August 2004

Financial Times: Shell to unify boards and look at merger: “to restore the company's credibility": 12 August 2004

Pulse TC.com: Firing Shell’s Chairman? “Sir Philip the Finagler after it was discovered in an internal investigation that, on his watch, Shell had been cooking its books Enron-style": 12 August 2004

The Independent: Michael Harrison's Outlook: Money talks for Shell's singing director: “Shell is hardly a byword for good corporate governance, and yesterday it lived up to its reputation by producing another stonker": 13 August 2004

The Times: Shell director who was 'tired of lying' given £2.5m payoff: “Shell investors lost 50p for every barrel that went missing while Phil and Walter together earned 80p for every barrel mislaid": 13 August 2004

DAILY EXPRESS: BUMBLING SHELL BORDERS ON FARCE: “HAPPY memories of Peter Sellers' portrayal of the bumbling Inspector Clouseau": 13 August 2004

Daily Express: Shell scandal boss wins £2.5m payoff": "I am becoming sick and tired about lying about the extent of our reserves issues and the downward revisions that need to be done because of far too aggressive/optimistic bookings.": 13 August 2004

The Star-Ledger: Major shareholder lawsuit pending: “the Royal Dutch/Shell Group's legal woes aren't yet finished.”: “a mega-lawsuit making its way through the U.S. District Court in Newark.": "In the SEC agreement, Shell neither admitted nor denied any wrongdoing, but allowed that the company violated anti-fraud, reporting, bookkeeping and internal control provisions of the securities laws. It will pay about $125 million in penalties. The company will also pay roughly $31 million to cover the British penalties, according to a statement.": 14 August 2004

The Scotsman: Shell 'Braced for Takeover Bid from Oil Rival Total': “an inquiry found it violated reporting, record-keeping and anti-trust rules.": 15 August 2004

SUNDAY EXPRESS: WHY SHELL MUST ACT NOW TO CALM TROUBLED WATERS: “But restructure may not be enough after scandal, resignation and fines, reports Robin Pagnamenta": 15 August 2004

Sunday Express: All’s well with Cairn in the Indian desert: It was an act of stupidity... You don't sell off your golden eggs like that. Shell's loss is Cairn's gain.”: "Oil minnow’s £4m field is worth billions": 15 August 2004

Channel News Asia: Shell fears swoop by French oil giant Total: report: “Shell has been shaken by a scandal involving the overestimation of its reserves of oil and gas.": 16 August 2004

London Evening Standard: Shell in the bid spotlight as oil price keeps climbing: “reports suggested top brass at scandal-struck Shell think a bid may be on its way from France's Total.": 16 August 2004

The Scotsman: Cairn's soar-away success ups pressure on Shell: “The Edinburgh-based group’s astonishing success raises further questions about the quality and calibre of Shell’s management and the company’s modus operandi.": 16 August 2004

Daily Telegraph: Cairn oil bonanza nets chiefs £4m bonus: “Cairn's finds in India are a source of continued embarrassment to Shell, which sold its 50pc share in the concession to Cairn for just $7.25m.": 16 August 2004

Financial Times: Virtually no hiding place from long arm of computer detectives: “…fraud investigation is to turn on a "smoking gun" document…,”: "I am becoming sick and tired about lying about the extent of our reserves issues.": 19 August 2004

Financial Times: Instant messaging used in 'untraceable' City leaks: “follows a string of cases where e-mails have provided crucial evidence, such as when Royal Dutch/Shell disclosed e-mails showing the feud between two of its directors over its overstatement of reserves.": 20 August 2004

Guardian: Corporate battle lines: “The collapse of Enron, and the related and unrelated stories of corporate fraud, unbridled greed and negligent auditing”: “How different are the skills required to succeed in, say, Shell, from those needed in the treasury? (Apart, of course, from the need in the former case to cultivate a blind eye.): 20 August 2004

The Times: Lifers who climb right to the top: “A less edifying example of the breed is Sir Philip Watts, chairman of Shell, who was forced to resign after the group admitted to misrepresenting oil and gas reserves.”": 21 August 2004

Sunday Express: Shell cuts back on forecourts to boost production: “managers hoped the new strategy would draw a line under the reserves-misreporting scandal which triggered the departure of three of Shell's bosses earlier this year.": 22 August 2004

The Business: Shell powers ahead with plan to clear out $15bn of its assets: “Underspending in exploration and production throughout the 1990s is seen as partly to blame for the 4.35bn barrel reduction in reported reserves that made this year one of the worst in Shell's 97-year history.": 22 August 2004

London Evening Standard: Damage question: “Shell… everyone knows its reputation is still in tatters and it will take years for the company to rehabilitate itself.": 22 August 2004

The Times: Need to Know: Royal Dutch/Shell… appeared in a Swedish court again over a 1999 price-fixing cartel": 24 August 2004

Bloomberg: Shell to Update Investors on Governance Next Month: “Van der Veer, 56, is trying to regain investors' confidence after the company said in January it had overstated oil reserves by a fifth. That led to an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the ouster of three top executives and the loss of Shell's top-tier credit rating.": 24 August 2004

Wednesday 25 August, 2004

Financial Times: Shell ‘knew of reserves overstatement in 2000': TWO YEARS EARLIER THAN PREVIOUSLY REPORTED BY THE COMPANY'S OWN INVESTIGATION INTO THE REPORTING SCANDAL."

Financial Times: Lex: Royal Dutch/Shell: “Creating value through entrepreneurial management of hydrocarbon resource values” could be the title of just another jargon-filled memo. The fact that the paper was written at Royal Dutch/Shell in May 1998 and led to a relaxation of reserve guidlines lends it a more ironic slant.": "The findings further damage the oil group's battered reputation."

Lloyds List: Shell settles with regulators to end reserves scandal: “findings and conclusions in the FSA's 'final notice' and the SEC's 'cease and desist order'.”

The Independent: Shell still wrestling with its moment of shame: “Shell is bluntly accused of making false and misleading statements about its oil reserves over a five-year period, of doing so despite internal warnings that the statements were false"

The Independent: Regulators to pursue former Shell chiefs over market abuse: “The UK's market regulator set out in detail a pattern of "false and misleading" information given to the market between 1998 and 2003 which Shell did not start to correct until January this year."

AccountancyAge: Shell committed 'unprecedented misconduct': “This included the false announcements made about the levels of its oil reserves, despite warnings that its figures were 'false or misleading'.”

Fool.com: Shell Shocked?: “If the stink of a recent restatement and high-sulfur gas mixture wasn't enough to have shareholders gasping for air, then the past year's proven oil reserves scandal certainly was.”

The Scotsman: Shell's £82.7M Fines over Reserves Crisis Confirmed: “False or misleading statements were given to investors about the extent of Shell’s reserves as far back as 1998, the FSA said.”

thisislondon.co.uk: Shell oil scandal 'began in 1998': “the FSA said Shell made false and misleading statements between 1998 and 2003.”

CNN: Shell settles fraud case for $150M: Oil company agrees to pay SEC for overstating reserves, also settles market abuse case in Britain.

Acrobat Reader is needed to access the SEC & FSA Report files below. Please be patient when downloading as the files contain multiple pages. (To download a FREE Acrobat Reader click on the adobe link): http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html)

CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO READ SECURITIES & EXCHANGE COMMISSION REPORT: http://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/34-50233.pdf

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ FINANCIAL SERVICES AUTHORITY REPORT: http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/final/shell_24aug04.pdf