This blogging software is so buggy. I posted stuff yesterday that still hasn't shown up on my home page.
The Justice Department has opened an inquiry into whether executives at the Royal Dutch/Shell Group violated any laws by failing to disclose in a timely fashion a significant shortfall in proven reserves of oil and natural gas, a person involved in the inquiry said Tuesday.
The company and its executives are already the focus of investigations by European regulators and officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission. But the Justice Department, unlike the commission, has the authority to bring criminal charges as well as civil ones. British and Dutch regulators are also examining the company.
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Two months ago, the company lowered its estimates of proven oil and gas reserves by about 20 percent, or 3.9 billion barrels. Company documents from two years ago show that current and former top executives were aware of a significant shortfall in reserves and came up with an "external storyline" and "investor relations script" that minimized its significance.
Two weeks ago, the group dismissed its chairman, Sir Philip Watts, and its head of exploration and production, Walter van de Vijver.
