Shell set for stormy AGM

Investors in Shell were today due to get their first chance to quiz the company since it revealed its reserves crisis.

Hundreds of shareholders in the troubled oil group were set to attend a potentially stormy annual meeting in London.

The company is likely to face difficult questions from investors about the four downgrades it has made to its reserves since January.

The crisis has sparked the departure of three top directors including chairman Philip Watts, head of exploration and production Walter van de Vijver and finance director Judy Boynton.

The firm could also come under fire over the £1m (€1.5m) severance payment it has awarded to Watts, who was ousted after the board said they had lost confidence in him.

Institutional investors were reported to be planning to urge the company to speed up a review of its corporate governance.

The study, which Shell announced in response to concern about the downgrades, could lead to the abolition of its twin board structure.

Green campaigners were also pledging to challenge the oil giant about its environmental record.

Lobby group Friends of the Earth has accused the company of causing severe health problems and environmental damage “from Nigeria to Texas and Sakhalin to South Africa”.

Some leading institutions reportedly have been selling shares in the group due to concerns about the way Shell deals with environmental issues related to its activities in Africa, the US and Sakhalin Island, off the Russian coast.

The annual meeting of Shell’s UK-based parent group, Shell Transport & Trading, will be held at the same time as that of its Dutch holding company, Royal Dutch Petroleum, in The Hague.