Shell's Top Executive Is Forced to Step Down

[Dover]

Shell's Top Executive Is Forced to Step Down
By HEATHER TIMMONS

Published: March 4, 2004


ONDON, March 3 - The top executive of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, the world's third-largest oil company, was forced to resign on Wednesday after an internal investigation into the company's surprise disclosure in January that it had overstated its oil and natural gas reserves by 20 percent.

The chairman of the company, Sir Philip Watts, stepped down less than a month after insisting that he would stay on despite a firestorm of criticism from investors over how the company handled the restatement....

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/04/business/04shell.html

[Nlighten1]

1. Golden parachutes are nice...

I wonder what his look like.

[revcarol]

2. The "restatement" is OK?,,,but it's HOW

the restatement was handled that is the problem?

It's OK to deceive investors but you gotta have the company do it smart taxwise,protect their investment money, etc.???

SHEESH

[BlueEyedSon]

3. Ooops, more evidence of "Peak Oil"

http://www.doomsdayreport.com

[htuttle]

4. According to Dr. Colin Cambpell,

Almost all of the increases in reported oil reserves since the 1970's have been due to inventory 'restatements' (ie., accounting changes) rather than new discoveries.

How many other reserves are overstated? According to Cambpell, probably most of them. It's in an oil company's interest (stockholders love it...until it's discovered), an OPEC member's interest (makes OPEC appear more powerful), and even the perceived US interest (non-OPEC reserves make OPEC look less powerful) to overstate reserves.

[jmcgowanjm]

5. So Shell CEO is truthful and pays the price

And ShellRD's Proven Reserve(P/R) writedown
included joint operations-Kashagan and NWAustralia-
And those other Oil Companies have not adjusted
downward their Reserves.

Which means the World is basically in a Command
Economy when it comes to Hydrocarbons.

The Amount is what We-Oils/OPEC/Governments
say it is and here's the Price.

But like the Soviets and their State Run Bread Stores,
the Bread will start showing up intermittently if
at all, w/ long lines when it is available.