Fired Shell boss gets $1.8m payoff

Royal Dutch/Shell's disgraced former chairman, Mr Phil Watts, will get a $1

Royal Dutch/Shell's disgraced former chairman, Mr Phil Watts, will get a $1.8 million payoff, but the oil giant refused to rule out legal action against him.

Mr Watts will get the payment - equivalent to full pay up to his retirement due date of June 2005 - despite being sacked for his part in a scandal involving a massive overstatement of the Anglo-Dutch firm's oil and gas reserves.

Revelations earlier this year that Shell's oil and gas reserve bookings were over-optimistic by more than 20 per cent shocked investors and rattled the entire energy sector. Three top executives, including Mr Watts, lost their jobs.

A Shell spokesman said:. "We cannot speculate on the outcome and implications of external investigations," referring to investigations that are under way by regulators, including the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice.

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Mr Watts' lawyer was not available for comment.

Shell said it had yet to decide on severance terms for another fired executive, exploration and production chief Mr Walter van de Vijver.