The Times: Shell to take £180m charge
“The news is a further blow to the company’s embattled shareholders”
By Andrew Ellson,
July 01, 2004
Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil company, has announced its exploration and production business will take a charge to earnings of about $330 million (£180 million) after tax in the second quarter of this year.
The charge relates to the unsuccessful drilling and seismic studies of several exploration wells in the North Sea and off the coast of Ireland. Shell acquired these exploration rights with the purchase of Enterprise Oil in 2002.
The charge would not have not have an impact on the company’s proven reserves, Shell said in a statement.