LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell reported a more than 70 percent fall in quarterly profits onThursday, well below analyst estimates, as weak oil and gasprices further ate into revenue.
Shell's current cost of supplies -- its definition of netincome -- came to $1 billion in the second quarter, comparedwith analyst expectations of $2.2 billion and $3.8 billionachieved the same time last year.
"Lower oil prices continue to be a significant challengeacross the business, particularly in the upstream (business),"said Chief Executive Ben van Beurden, who said last month hewants to turn Shell into the best oil company for investorreturns.
Shell's second-quarter oil and gas production rose 28percent year on year, mainly thanks to the contrubution of BGassets, which Shell acquired for $54 billion earlier this year. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps and Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing byAdrian Croft)
