Shell to propose BG Group auditor EY as its new assessor

Royal Dutch Shell, which is currently in the process of acquiring BG Group, will be recommending the latter’s auditor Ernst & Young (EY) to shareholders as the Anglo-Dutch oil company’s new auditor for the year ending 31 December, 2016.

Confirming the move, EY said the proposal would be made to Shell’s shareholders at the company’s 2016 annual general meeting. The approval would mark a clean sweep of audit contracts from UK blue chip oil and gas companies by EY, as the global accounting firm already audits BP and BG Group.

Hywel Ball, EY’s UK head of audit, said: “Royal Dutch Shell is the largest company by market capitalisation in the UK and our global structure, combined with our wealth of experience in the sector and innovative approach to the audit, helps enable us to advise international businesses of this scale.”

EY was chosen following a competitive tender process. “The EU audit rotation rules, while not yet mandatory, are having a big impact on the number of audits coming up for tender. In the first half of this year there have been as many live FTSE 100 audit tenders as in the whole of 2014,” Ball concluded.

Meanwhile, BG Group announced on Thursday that operational control of Train 1 at its Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG) plant in Australia had been formally transferred to QGC, BG Group's subsidiary in the country, from Bechtel, which constructed the facility.

In the run up to a takeover by Shell, the company also announced that approval for the sale of its QCLNG gas pipeline to APA Group has been received from BG Group's Train 1 equity partner, the China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC).

“As a result, the preconditions for sale of the QCLNG pipeline to APA Group have been satisfied in full. The sale of the pipeline remains on track for completion in the second quarter of 2015,” the company added.