The China Mail - Shell profit tumbles on falling oil and gas prices

USD -
AED 3.672504
AFN 65.000368
ALL 81.652501
AMD 376.168126
ANG 1.79008
AOA 917.000367
ARS 1431.790402
AUD 1.425923
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.70397
BAM 1.654023
BBD 2.008288
BDT 121.941731
BGN 1.67937
BHD 0.375914
BIF 2954.881813
BMD 1
BND 1.269737
BOB 6.889932
BRL 5.217404
BSD 0.997082
BTN 90.316715
BWP 13.200558
BYN 2.864561
BYR 19600
BZD 2.005328
CAD 1.36855
CDF 2200.000362
CHF 0.77566
CLF 0.021803
CLP 860.890396
CNY 6.93895
CNH 6.929815
COP 3699.522179
CRC 494.312656
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 93.2513
CZK 20.504104
DJF 177.555076
DKK 6.322204
DOP 62.928665
DZD 129.553047
EGP 46.73094
ERN 15
ETB 155.0074
EUR 0.846204
FJD 2.209504
FKP 0.73461
GBP 0.734457
GEL 2.69504
GGP 0.73461
GHS 10.957757
GIP 0.73461
GMD 73.000355
GNF 8752.167111
GTQ 7.647681
GYD 208.609244
HKD 7.81385
HNL 26.338534
HRK 6.376104
HTG 130.618631
HUF 319.703831
IDR 16855.5
ILS 3.110675
IMP 0.73461
INR 90.57645
IQD 1306.186308
IRR 42125.000158
ISK 122.710386
JEP 0.73461
JMD 156.057339
JOD 0.70904
JPY 157.200504
KES 128.622775
KGS 87.450384
KHR 4023.848789
KMF 419.00035
KPW 899.990005
KRW 1463.803789
KWD 0.30721
KYD 0.830902
KZT 493.331642
LAK 21426.698803
LBP 89293.839063
LKR 308.47816
LRD 187.449786
LSL 16.086092
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 6.314009
MAD 9.153622
MDL 17.000296
MGA 4426.402808
MKD 52.129054
MMK 2099.624884
MNT 3567.867665
MOP 8.023933
MRU 39.425769
MUR 46.060378
MVR 15.450378
MWK 1728.952598
MXN 17.263604
MYR 3.947504
MZN 63.750377
NAD 16.086092
NGN 1366.980377
NIO 36.694998
NOK 9.690604
NPR 144.506744
NZD 1.674621
OMR 0.383441
PAB 0.997082
PEN 3.354899
PGK 4.275868
PHP 58.511038
PKR 278.812127
PLN 3.56949
PYG 6588.016407
QAR 3.634319
RON 4.310404
RSD 99.268468
RUB 76.789716
RWF 1455.283522
SAR 3.748738
SBD 8.058149
SCR 13.84955
SDG 601.503676
SEK 9.023204
SGD 1.272904
SHP 0.750259
SLE 24.450371
SLL 20969.499267
SOS 568.818978
SRD 37.818038
STD 20697.981008
STN 20.719692
SVC 8.724259
SYP 11059.574895
SZL 16.08271
THB 31.535038
TJS 9.342721
TMT 3.505
TND 2.891792
TOP 2.40776
TRY 43.612504
TTD 6.752083
TWD 31.590367
TZS 2577.445135
UAH 42.828111
UGX 3547.71872
UYU 38.538627
UZS 12244.069517
VES 377.985125
VND 25950
VUV 119.182831
WST 2.73071
XAF 554.743964
XAG 0.012866
XAU 0.000202
XCD 2.70255
XCG 1.797032
XDR 0.689923
XOF 554.743964
XPF 100.858387
YER 238.403589
ZAR 16.04457
ZMK 9001.203584
ZMW 18.570764
ZWL 321.999592
  • SCS

    0.0200

    16.14

    +0.12%

  • RBGPF

    0.1000

    82.5

    +0.12%

  • NGG

    1.1700

    88.06

    +1.33%

  • VOD

    0.4900

    15.11

    +3.24%

  • GSK

    1.0600

    60.23

    +1.76%

  • RIO

    2.2900

    93.41

    +2.45%

  • BCC

    1.8700

    91.03

    +2.05%

  • RYCEF

    0.2600

    16.88

    +1.54%

  • CMSD

    0.0600

    23.95

    +0.25%

  • BCE

    -0.4900

    25.08

    -1.95%

  • RELX

    -0.7100

    29.38

    -2.42%

  • CMSC

    -0.0400

    23.51

    -0.17%

  • JRI

    0.0900

    12.97

    +0.69%

  • AZN

    5.8700

    193.03

    +3.04%

  • BP

    0.8400

    39.01

    +2.15%

  • BTI

    0.8400

    62.8

    +1.34%

Shell profit tumbles on falling oil and gas prices
Shell profit tumbles on falling oil and gas prices / Photo: © AFP/File

Shell profit tumbles on falling oil and gas prices

British energy giant Shell on Thursday said its net profit more than halved to $19.4 billion last year as oil and gas prices weakened.

Text size:

Profit after tax slumped 54 percent after reaching an all-time high of $42.3 billion in 2022, when energy producer Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent prices of fossil fuels soaring.

"Full year 2023 income... reflected lower realised oil and gas prices, lower volumes, and lower refining margins," Shell added in the earnings release.

It was slammed also by impairment and other accounting charges totalling $7.5 billion.

Revenue dived almost a fifth to $316.6 billion.

Despite the declines, Shell said it was returning $3.5 billion to shareholders and ramping up its fourth-quarter dividend.

- 'Obscene profits' -

"As we enter 2024 we are continuing to simplify our organisation with a focus on delivering more value with less emissions," chief executive Wael Sawan said in the earnings statement.

Environmentalists were not convinced, however, with Greenpeace activists dressed as Shell board members protesting outside the company's London headquarters on Thursday.

"Shell is posting yet more obscene profits from climate-wrecking fossil fuels," said Greenpeace campaigner Maja Darlington.

"While customers struggle with the cost-of-living crisis, Shell shovels over billions to shareholders and drills for yet more oil and gas. Climate disasters are multiplying and hitting hardest those who have done the least to cause the crisis."

Sawan, former head of renewable energy at Shell, plans in March to update the company's strategy on transitioning to cleaner fuels.

"What you should expect coming in March is real clarity on what are the areas that we will continue to go forward with, not a whole bunch of new targets," Sawan told a conference call listened to by analysts and media.

The fossil fuels giant insists that its overall goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 remains intact.

This as the energy sector still looks to profit from the relatively high cost of oil and gas.

Prices are currently benefitting from concerns that the Israel-Hamas conflict could spread into a broader conflict in the crude-rich Middle East.

The group's share price closed up 2.41 percent at £25.06 on London's benchmark FTSE 100 index, which ended slightly down overall.

Shell on Thursday added that net profit tumbled 93 percent to $474 million in the fourth quarter on large impairments, particularly linked to chemical assets in Singapore.

Net profit excluding exceptional items sank nearly a third to $28.3 billion last year -- but this beat market expectations.

"A wavering oil price was inevitably the main culprit for the reduced full-year result," noted Richard Hunter, head of markets at trading firm Interactive Investor.

"From a broader perspective, and despite the current geopolitical tensions which have provided a base for the oil price, the uncertain economic environment globally has left the demand situation unclear."

Hunter added: "The industry is the focus of some debate from an environmental perspective, with the ever-increasing possibility that some investors will be unwilling or unable to invest in the sector on ethical grounds."

C.Smith--ThChM