Shell says US government drops probe into reserves scandal
London (Platts)--30Jun2005
The US Department of Justice has dropped its investigation into Shell's recategorizations of its oil and gas reserves which saw the company shave over 5-bil bbl of oil equivalent from its proved reserve base, Shell said Wednesday. Shell cited the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, David Kelley, as saying that the Department of Justice "would not take any further action against Shell." Having originally reported proved oil and gas reserves of 19.4-bil boe for 2002, Shell downgraded this figure five times in 16 months, leaving it at 13.72-bil boe, 5.6-bil boe less than first reported. The resulting scandal led to the departure of three of the company's top executives and $150-mil in fines from US and UK regulators as well as the investigation by the Department of Justice. The company is also facing shareholder lawsuits. More stories like this one are published daily in Platts Oilgram News. Request a trial at http://oilgramnews.platts.com.
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