ROYAL DUTCH Shell has announced a 13 per cent drop in second-quarter earnings, as weaker oil and US natural gas prices offset higher production and improved refining margins.
Shell’s clean earnings on a current cost-of-supplies basis, which strips out the effect of changes in the oil price on inventories, were $5.7 billion, compared with $6.6 billion a year ago.
Chief executive Peter Voser said Shell’s profits had fallen with energy prices, “but our growth strategy is delivering to the bottom line”.
He said plans for about $32 billion of capital investment in 2012 were still on track.
Shell’s production of oil and gas increased by 4 per cent compared with a year ago, to 3.1 million barrels a day, the company said. Oil output fell by 3 per cent, while natural gas production rose by 8 per cent – underlining Shell’s transformation to a company leaning more towards gas than crude.
Shell, which has indicated interest in Mozambique gas fields, has started talks with Anadarko Petroleum after it dropped a bid for Irish-based Cove Energy, Anadarko’s partner in the African nation. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012/Bloomberg
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