Royal Dutch Shell Plc  .com Rotating Header Image

Reuters: Total declines comment on Shell report

Reuters: Total declines comment on Shell report

Mon 16 August, 2004 07:37

PARIS (Reuters) – Total has declined comment on a report in The Observer that said executives at Royal Dutch/Shell were concerned about a potential takeover bid from the French oil group.

The paper said a tie-up between the two groups was “the subject of fevered speculation”, but did not cite any sources and said there were no indications that board members or advisers had spoken about a combination of the companies.

“We do not comment on rumours,” a spokeswoman for Total said on Monday.

A Shell spokeswoman said: “We cannot comment on market rumour or speculation.”

The paper cited one unnamed oil analyst as saying: “On paper it’s a fit, but it’s not that easy. Who would be in charge would be the major issue.”

Earlier this month, a senior industry source told Reuters that Shell would unify the boards of its Dutch and British holding companies and that the group might consider a full merger of the two, or for one holding company to take over the other.

Currently, Royal Dutch owns 60 percent of the overall group, while Shell Transport & Trading has 40 percent. A review of the company’s corporate governance will be published in November.

In January, Shell disclosed a 20 percent downgrade to its proved oil and gas reserves.

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.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comment Rules

  • Please show respect to the opinions of others no matter how seemingly far-fetched.
  • Abusive, foul language, and/or divisive comments may be deleted without notice.
  • Each blog member is allowed limited comments, as displayed above the comment box.
  • Comments must be limited to the number of words displayed above the comment box.
  • Please limit one comment after any comment posted per post.