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June 21st, 2004:

Cairn Energy

ThisIsMoney.com: Cairn Energy

Posted 21 june 04

Price: 1200p Monthly rise: 20.2%.

MAJOR oil finds in India have sent shares in Cairn soaring this year and its most recent update showed that the company expected to extract more from its field in Rajasthan than it had initially hoped.

Chief executive Bill Gammell pulled off a major coup when he picked up the field from Shell, but his company’s share price jump has also been helped by sharply higher oil prices in recent months.

The share price has tripled so far this year, and at last week’s closing price, the Scottish company was valued at £1.8bn, which means it is knocking on the door of the FTSE 100 index. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shareholders force change on Shell

TimesOnLine: Shareholders force change on Shell

The Dutch and British arms could be merged to make management easier. Report by Dominic O’Connell

June 20, 2004

Posted 21 June 04

LIKE a lumbering elephant lured into a pit by wily hunters, Royal Dutch/Shell fell victim last week to a shareholder ambush.

The embattled oil and gas group had doggedly resisted pressure to shed light on a long-running review of its Byzantine corporate-governance structure. Shell told its owners the details would emerge in good time, with next week’s annual meeting earmarked for their publication. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Investors set for Shell showdown

TimesOnLine: Investors set for Shell showdown

Louise Armitstead

June 20, 2004

Posted 21 June 04

INSTITUTIONAL shareholders in Shell, the embattled oil giant, are planning a public showdown with the company’s management at its annual meeting next Monday. Despite Shell’s efforts last week to meet some of its investors’ biggest demands, fund managers say they will attend the meeting to press for more transparency.

Shell’s biggest investors, which include Isis, M&G, Scottish Widows, State Street, Merrill Lynch and HSBC, have welcomed Shell’s announcement that it would move towards merging Royal Dutch and Shell Trading & Transport, but they still have concerns. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Abu Dhabi Picks ExxonMobil As Partner In Zakum Field

The Wall Street Journal: Abu Dhabi Picks ExxonMobil As Partner In Zakum Field

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

June 20, 2004 6:17 a.m.

Posted 21 June 04

MANAMA, Bahrain — Abu Dhabi oil authorities have picked U.S. oil major ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) as a strategic partner in the offshore Upper Zakum oil field, after prolonged talks with a number of foreign bidders, the Middle East Economic Survey weekly newsletter reports in its Monday edition.

MEES said Abu Dhabi had in fact shortlisted Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD SC), BP PLC (BP), ChevronTexaco Corp. (CVX) and Japan Offshore Development Co., or Jodco, but excluded France’s Total S.A. (TOT) from the selection process. There were reports of differences among Abu Dhabi officials over whether to choose a U.S. or a European company. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Yahoo.com: Nippon Oil Starts Commercial Gas Production In Malaysia

Yahoo.com: Nippon Oil Starts Commercial Gas Production In Malaysia

Monday June 21, 6:20 AM

TOKYO (Dow Jones)–Japan’s Nippon Oil Corp. (5001.TO) said Monday its oil and gas exploration unit has earlier this month started commercial production of natural gas at the Serai offshore gas field in Malaysia.

Nippon Oil Exploration Sarawak started commercial gas output at the field June 9 and will deliver natural gas via a pipeline to a liquefied natural gas plant in Bintulu, Nippon Oil said in a statement.

Shell Malaysia, a unit of Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD) is the main project operator. It holds a 37.5% interest in the Serai gas field which is in the SK-8 block off Sarawak, East Malaysia, while Nippon Oil owns a 37.5% stake and Petronas Carigali holds 25%. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Business Report: The corporate pressure of performance

Business Report: The corporate pressure of performance

By Bert Chanetsa

21 June 2004

What is clear from the saga at Royal Dutch/Shell is that the practice of categorising reserves is a supreme challenge.

This is so both in the context of shareholder and market expectations as well as regulatory requirements.

For any company operating in the resources sector, reserves booked are a critical indicator of value to stakeholders.

A drama around the veracity of the method of such bookings has been playing itself out at Shell.

On January 9 this year, Shell announced that it would be recategorising some 3.9 billion barrels of oil equivalent, or 20 percent of proven reserves, previously stated as at December 31 2002. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell shareholders prepare to make AGM waves

Reuters.co.uk: Shell shareholders prepare to make AGM waves

Sun 20 June, 2004 21:03

Posted Monday 21 June 04

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch/Shell shareholders plan to give the embattled oil giant’s directors a rocky ride at its twin annual general meetings on June 28, despite the concessions it made to them last week.

Investors say they want to see clearer reporting lines and a simpler management structure at the world’s third largest oil company. Shell sacked three directors this year for their part in a failure to communicate long standing problems with reserves bookings to shareholders. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell to Cut Summer Output at Bakersfield Refinery, Leaked Papers Say

Los Angeles Times: Shell to Cut Summer Output at Bakersfield Refinery, Leaked Papers Say

By Elizabeth Douglass, Times Staff Writer

June 21, 2004

Shell Oil Co. plans to put the brakes on production at its Bakersfield refinery in July and August, potentially shorting California’s fuel supplies during the summertime driving season, according to internal Shell documents.

The planned cutback is the latest development in the controversy over the refinery, which can process up to 70,000 barrels a day of crude oil and makes about 2% of California’s gasoline supply and 6% of its diesel. Shell has said it will close the facility Oct. 1 in a move that experts predict will boost pump prices by worsening the chronic imbalance between supply and demand in the state. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The insidious charms of Shell’s dual votes: But just one factor in the foul up

Financial Times: The insidious charms of Shell’s dual votes: But just one factor in the foul up

By John Plender

Jun 21, 2004

Royal Dutch/Shell is to scrap its priority shares, which carry voting rights controlled by the management. Could this dual voting structure have contributed significantly to the problems that culminated in its cooking the books?

A new study of US dual class companies by Andrew Metrick of Wharton, Paul Gompers of Harvard Business School and Joy Ishii of Harvard University, available on the Wharton web site, throws interesting light on this question.* The economists find that large insider ownership stakes tend to improve corporate performance, while heavy control by insiders tends to weaken it. Performance in the study was measured by Tobin’s Q, an asset-value based proxy for stock returns. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
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