Shell Posts Record Quarterly Profit, Lifted By Energy Price Surge
Shell (SHEL.L) on Thursday reported a record first-quarter profit of $9.13 billion, boosted by higher oil and gas prices.
The last of the energy majors to report results, Shell joins sector rivals, including BP (BP.L) and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) in making big profits from the commodity price volatility stoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began on Feb. 24.
Shell’s shares rose 3.3% in early trading, outperforming the 1.8% rise of an index of oil and gas companies. It beat its previous highest quarterly profits recorded in 2008. It is also winding down oil and gas trading with Russia.
The European Union’s chief executive on Wednesday proposed a phased oil embargo on Russia that, if backed by member states would be a watershed for the world’s largest trading bloc.
“It will be a tough winter if we don’t have any Russian molecules coming into Europe,” Chief Executive Ben van Beurden told a conference call.
By the end of this year, Shell said it would stop all of its long-term Russian crude oil purchases. Its contracts to import refined oil products from Russia will also end. It said, adding it still had running long-term contracts to buy Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG).
-Reuters
