02/08/2001

Shell posts record $7.4 bn profit for first half of year

Royal Dutch/Shell has announced record £7.4 billion (£5.2 billion) profits for the first half of the year, the figures revealing a jump in profits of 15 per cent on last year’s results.

The company’s profits for the period were boosted by brighter gas results that powered second quarter earnings for the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies to another record. Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies Philip Watts revealed that earnings for the second quarter up 12 per cent to $3.5 billion.

Mr Watts said: “Gas is plainly the fuel of the future and we are well placed to be part of that future with gas production up 11 per cent versus last year.”

Shell, developing Saudia Arabia’s natural gas industry and playing a major role in the Sakhalin project in the Far East, are also developing new markets for liquefied natural gas (LNG), which was a “key part” of the company’s growing gas and power business which had a record quarter.

He also reported a “vintage quarter” for discoveries, including a significant deepwater oil find near to the Bonga field off Nigeria. While Royal Dutch/Shell’s earnings from exploration and production remained steady at over $2 billion for the quarter, earnings from chemicals, as a result of “very tough trading conditions,” were halved.

Shell also posted the company’s highest ever quarterly profits from oil products, with particularly strong results in the southern hemisphere and North America. These were attributed to more efficient use of refinery capacity, lower costs, and to “better margins”.

However, the company’s record profit figures are expected to ignite yet further controversy on profit taking by major fossil fuel supply companies.

Despite reporting record second-quarter earnings shares in Shell fell by 3 per cent, pulling down BP shares in the process. (SP)

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