THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Shell Delays Hldr Meeting In Case 2004 Accounts Held Up: “The company is undertaking a detailed review of its reserves. In a statement issued Friday, the oil giant said this could in turn trigger a delay to its 2004 accounts.” (ShellNews.net) 26 Nov 04

Friday November 26, 08:22 AM

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LONDON -- Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD/SC) Friday said it will push back the date of its shareholder meetings next year in case its review of oil reserves causes a delay to its accounts.

The company is undertaking a detailed review of its reserves. In a statement issued Friday, the oil giant said this could in turn trigger a delay to its 2004 accounts.

Shell said "to avoid uncertainty for shareholders," its meetings, which can only take place if accounts are complete, would be delayed.

The company gave a new date of June 28, 2005 for shareholder meetings of both its U.K. and Dutch holding companies. The company had previously expected the meetings to be held in April.

The group is 60% held by Royal Dutch Petroleum of the Netherlands and 40% held by Shell Transport & Trading of the U.K., each of which has its own board. This complicated, century-old structure has been blamed for enabling the failure in accountability that led to Shell 's admission it had overstated nearly a quarter of its oil and gas reserves.

As well as formally approving the company's accounts, the meetings next year are also expected to vote on the complex restructuring proposed in the wake of its controversial restatement of its reserves, which led to the departure of then chairman Philip Watts.

A Shell spokesman said the move "is purely a prudent measure to avoid uncertainty for shareholders" and didn't imply that a reserves restatement is becoming more likely.

Shell shares in London fell 2.75 pence or 0.6% to 445.5 pence against a 0.3% fall in the FTSE-100 index.

Company Web site: http://www.shell.com

-By Gren Manuel, Dow Jones Newswires; 44 20 7842 9279; gren.manuel@dowjones.com