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Byline: CHIP CUMMINS LITIGATION Bahrain probes alleged kickback by Japanese trading firm DUBAI -- Bahraini prosecutors are probing $8.7-million in alleged kickbacks by a large Japanese commodities-trading firm into bank [...]

Byline: CHIP CUMMINS AND MARGARET COKER; WALL STREET JOURNAL STAFF DUBAI -- Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, seen just a few months ago as a bastion of Mideast support for banking [...]

Byline: JEFFREY BALL AND CHIP CUMMINS; WALL STREET JOURNAL STAFF Kuwait scuttled its multibillion-dollar joint-venture deal with Dow Chemical Co., set to take effect Thursday, in a major blow to [...]

Byline: CHIP CUMMINS; WALL STREET JOURNAL STAFF Amid a backlash against overseas investments by government funds, Abu Dhabi - home to the world's largest such fund - has pledged it [...]

Byline: RICK CAREW, MARCUS WALKER, CHIP CUMMINS, AND KATHARINA BART; Zhou Yang in Beijing contributed to this article HONG KONG, BERLIN, DUBAI, BRUSSELS -- The powerful government-run investment funds of [...]

Royal Dutch/Shell Group's plans to restructure the company such that its two parent companies will be merged will result in a revaluation of its stock prices, with implications for European stock market indexes.

CEO John Browne believes that BP PLC can continue maintain its productivity and position as the second-largest publicly-traded energy company in the world, thanks to several new projects planned.

Royal Dutch-Shell Group of Cos. fourth-quarter profit rose sharply to $4.48 billion, but this news was offset by reports that the company would again reduce its estimates of energy reserves.

After an investigation which showed that the Royal Dutch-Shell Group of Cos. overestimated its petroleum reserves, partial blame fell on Anton B arendregt, the company's internal reserves auditor, who was termed poorly trained and not independent enough to give objective opinions. A letter from KPMG's Dutch subsidiary written in 2002 stated, however, that the internal auditor was competent.

Royal Dutch-Shell Group of Cos. plans of merger of its British and Dutch parent companies to form a new entity called Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

The Russian government's plan to sell OAO Yukos unit Yuganskneftegas at a low price has been criticized by the U.S. Stephen Hadley, U.S.. Deputy National Security Adviser cautioned Russian officials about selling the unit at a cut-rate price. It is thought the sale will look like a power grab by the Kremlin.

The Financial Services Authority has found that many companies are not abiding by regulatory requirements when conducting energy trading.

Royal Dutch-Shell Group of Companies' former chairman Sir Philip Watts claims that he relied on external and internal auditors to confirm that the company accurately disclosed information of its petroleum reserves.

Russia plans to merge OAO Rosneft and OAO Gazprom to create the world's largest energy company, which will be open to foreign investment.

As a result of higher prices for oil and natural gas, and increased production at its Russian operations, BP PLC's profits have more than doubled in the second quarter.

OAO Yukos is given a huge tax bill by the Russian government, raising concerns for the company's future, while oil production in Iraq and Nigeria is seriously disrupted by labor disputes and terrosrism. These factors, and the fear of shortened supplies combine to push the price of oil close to $40 a barrel.

Over two months before Royal Dutch-Shell Group of Cos. disclosed its overestimates of petroleum reserves, the Royal Dutch board's audit committee received a memo listing an accounting of problems in the company. From the memo, suggestions arise that some directors received earlier warnings than those offically disclosed.

Royal Dutch-Shell Group of Cos. executives Sir Philip Watts and Jeroen van der Veer, and auditing firms KPMG L.L.P. and PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.P. are being sued by two pension funds to require a shareholder vote over the unification of its two-board structure. This lawsuit follows the recent accounting of petroleum reserves scandal.