Bloomberg: Shell-Oman Venture Boosts Oil Reserves, Slows Field Decline: “Shell, based in London and The Hague, is seeking new fields after disclosing in January 2004 that it overstated oil and gas reserves for years, which led to the departure of three senior executives, more than a dozen investor lawsuits and a U.S. Justice Department criminal probe. Last month, Shell lost a $2 billion oil field project to Occidental Petroleum Corp…”: Sunday 19 June 2005

June 19 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Europe's second-largest oil company, last year boosted reserves from its joint venture in Oman and slowed the rate of decline at maturing fields, the company said in its annual report.

``The field development plans for Lekhwair and Nimr yielded increases in reserves that more than offset the decreases in the reserves'' of six other fields, Petroleum Development Oman said in the report on its Web site. The company didn't provide a total figure for the increase.

PDO, in which Shell has a 34 percent stake, slowed the decline in production by drilling more wells and managing pressure in the reservoirs. Oil production last year fell to a 10-year low of 710,000 barrels of oil a day, the company said.

Shell, based in London and The Hague, is seeking new fields after disclosing in January 2004 that it overstated oil and gas reserves for years, which led to the departure of three senior executives, more than a dozen investor lawsuits and a U.S. Justice Department criminal probe.

Last month, Shell lost a $2 billion oil field project to Occidental Petroleum Corp. and its partner, Abu Dhabi's Liwa Energy Ltd., because of disagreement with the Oman government over how best to tap the oil.

To contact the reporter on this story:

Dania Saadi in Dubai at dsaadi2@bloomberg.net.

http://www.bloomberg.comshelloman

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