Shell’s Q1 profit surges, LNG sales up

The Hague-based LNG giant Shell on Thursday reported a 136 percent surge in the profit for the first quarter, boosted by stronger oil and gas prices and improved refining margins.

Shell’s first-quarter earnings on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis and excluding exceptional items rose to $3.86 billion compared with $1.63 billion in the same quarter of 2016.

Cash flow from operating activities for the first quarter was $9.5 billion, compared with $0.7 billion in the first quarter last year.

These results are Shell’s fifth following the purchase of BG Group in February last year. The deal between BG and Shell created the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) company.

Following the deal, Shell has been shedding assets worth over $20 billion as it reshapes its portfolio towards more profitable, lower-cost resources.

“We are rapidly transforming Shell through the consistent and disciplined execution of our strategy. This includes investing around $25 billion this year and the delivery of new projects, which we expect to generate $10 billion in cash flow from operating activities by 2018,” Ben van Beurden, chief executive officer of Shell, said.

LNG sales climb

Shell said its LNG sales volumes of 15.84 million tonnes increased by 29 percent compared with the same quarter a year ago.

LNG sales volumes mainly reflected increased trading of third-party volumes and higher liquefaction volumes compared with the same quarter a year ago, the company noted in its first-quarter report.

Shell’s first-quarter liquefaction volumes of 8.18 million tonnes rose 16 percent year-on-year due to the start-up of Gorgon in Australia and the contribution of BG assets for an additional month, it added.

LNG World News Staff