Shell’s annual profits nosedive

Royal Dutch Shell, whose shareholders recently approved its takeover of LNG player BG, reported an 87 percent drop in annual profits to $1.94 billion.

Shell’s quarterly earnings dropped by 58 percent to $939 million due to falling oil and gas prices, the Anglo–Dutch multinational said on Thursday.

“We are making substantial changes in the company, reorganising our Upstream, and reducing costs and capital investment, as we refocus Shell, and respond to lower oil prices. As we have previously indicated, this will include a reduction of some 10,000 staff and direct contractor positions in 2015-16 across both companies,” Ben van Beurden, CEO of Shell said.

According to van Beurden, operating costs and capital investment have been reduced by a total of $12.5 billion as compared to 2014, and Shell expects further reductions in 2016.

Capital investment for Shell and BG combined for the full year 2016 is expected to be $33 billion, down some 45% from combined spending, which peaked in 2013.

Oil and gas production

Oil and gas production in 2015 was 2,954 thousand boe/d, a decrease of 4 percent compared with 2014.

Full year production volumes increased by 1 percent compared with 2014, excluding the impact of divestments, curtailment and underground storage reinjection at NAM in the Netherlands, Abu Dhabi licence and Malaysia PSC expiries, PSC price effects, and security impacts in Nigeria, Shell said.

LNG sales

Shell said it equity sales of LNG of 5.68 million tonnes for the fourth quarter were 8 percent lower than for the same quarter a year ago.

Fort the full year 2015, Shell’s equity sales of liquefied natural gas were at 22.62 million tonnes, down 6 percent than in 2014.

LNG World News Staff