Royal Dutch shells massive profits

The Royal Dutch/Shell group reported net profits of $17.5bn (£9.3bn) in 2004, and in doing so broke the record for the highest ever recorded for a UK-listed company.

They also made a downgrade of their oil reserves by 1.4 billion barrels, after previous scandals of exaggerated figures led to a fundamental reorganisation of the executive board and the departure of lead executives, not least chairman Sir Philip Watts.

Rising oil prices were key to the profits, with crude reaching as much as $55 per barrel at October 2004.