Earnings surge at Shell amid soaring energy prices

(Sharecast News) - Oil major Shell posted an above-forecast surge in profits on Thursday, fuelled by soaring energy prices in the wake of the US-Iran war.

First-quarter adjusted earnings came in at $6.92bn, up from $3.26bn in the fourth quarter and $5.58bn a year previously. Consensus had been for earnings closer to $6.36bn.

The spike in earnings came despite a 4% fall in total oil and gas production, to 2.75m barrels of oil equivalent per day, primarily due to damage to Shell's facilities in Qatar. Around 20% of the company's oil and gas production comes from the Middle East. Shell said repairs at the Pearl gas plant in the country would take about a year.

Wael Sawan, chief executive, said: "Shell delivered strong results enabled by our relentless focus on operational performance in a quarter marked by unprecedented disruption in global energy markets."

Last month Shell announced it was buying Canadian shale producer ARC Resources in a $16.4bn deal. Sawan said the acquisition accelerated the company's strategy by adding "complementary, high-quality, low-cost liquids and gas assets that we believe will deliver value for decades to come."

The blue chip upped the divided by 5%. However, it trimmed its quarterly buyback programme to $3bn from $3.5bn.

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