Royal Dutch/Shell's chief financial officer Judith Boynton has resigned, bowing to investor pressure after huge cuts to the energy giant's oil and gas reserves this year.
Boynton is the third major casualty of the debacle, which wiped billions of pounds off the market value of the world's third biggest oil group. Chairman Phillip Watts and oil and gas chief Walter van de Vijver were pushed out in March.
Shell also released the results of an internal probe into why its oil and gas reserves were overstated by a fifth in the first place, and said it needed to trim its proven reserves for 2002 and 2003 again and amend its financial results.
The firm said it was determined to restore credibility and would act on the report's recommendations, including the use of external experts in auditing reserves.
'The report and review draws a line under the uncertainties that have surrounded the status of our reserves. The controls we now have in place will be rigorously enforced and will be subject to far greater levels of scrutiny within Shell,' chairman Jeroen van der Veer said.
The Anglo-Dutch group said that as a result of its internal review it would restate its earnings for 2002 and 2003. It said the overall impact on net earnings for the 2000-2003 period was just over $100m per year, or less than 1% of net earnings.
Shell is accelerating a review of its governance and structure and says it is cooperating with inquiries by regulators, including the SEC.
