Shell has posted its second highest quarterly earnings on record, with net profit doubling to nearly $10bn in the three months to June, driven by the energy market surge caused by the Middle East crisis.
Record Profits Amid Crisis
Europe's largest oil and gas company reported a quarterly profit of $9.8bn (£7.4bn), more than double the figure for the second quarter last year and the highest since its record-high earnings after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The company, which plans to develop the Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea, revealed its earnings before a planned meeting between UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Shell's chief executive, Wael Sawan.
Sawan told CNBC: "The prime minister's office has reached out, and we're hoping to schedule a discussion soon … The biggest thing that can be done at the moment is to continue to support the development of the North Sea, to continue to invest in renewables, to continue to provide targeted support to those who need it in these difficult times."
Environmental Backlash
Robert Palmer, deputy director at campaign group Uplift, which opposes North Sea development, accused Shell of "maniacal behaviour" for "putting its profits ahead of the health of our planet." He said: "As families and firefighters across Europe battle devastating wildfires, Shell is cashing in on Trump's war and doubling down on oil and gas. The world is literally on fire and Shell wants to add more fuel."
The severe disruption in global energy markets since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran in late February led to a 30% drop in Shell's gas production in the last quarter compared with the same period a year ago, after its gas-to-liquids plant in Qatar was damaged by Iranian drones. However, the company more than offset the lost earnings through higher global market prices and savvy trading. In its liquified natural gas business, earnings grew to $2.7bn in the second quarter, up 55% from last year. Its chemicals and products business, which includes its oil trading desk, reported earnings of $2.3bn, up sharply from $118m a year ago and the division's highest quarterly profit since 2021.
Trading Gains and Market Volatility
"We have one of the world's largest and strongest trading capabilities," Sawan told CNBC. "And that allows us to deal with times like this." The global oil price climbed from about $61 a barrel in January to highs of $126 at the end of April, after Iran's de facto blockade on flows of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz. The market volatility has included some of the sharpest price swings on record, which traders can use to amplify profits. Brent crude was trading at just over $90 a barrel on Thursday.
Shell's oil rival BP has reportedly warned staff that a potential oversupply of oil and gas could lead to lower market prices, as it set out plans to cut another 700 jobs from its global operations following cuts of 7,000 last year. The Financial Times reported an email to staff from BP's production boss, Gordon Birrell, outlining plans to streamline the business and stating BP had to be "competitive at the bottom of the cycle, not just the top."
Calls for Windfall Tax
Shell's surging profits reignited calls from environmental campaigners for taxes to fund support for households hardest hit by rising energy costs. Rudy Schulkind, a political campaigner at Greenpeace, said the environmental group was "running out of words to describe the obscenity" of huge profits at Shell. "Europe is engulfed by apocalyptic wildfires, communities across Asia are reeling from devastating floods, and the UK battles through drought and yet more dangerous heat," he said. "These aren't anomalies, they're the defining story of the fossil fuel age. Shell takes the profits, and the rest of us pick up the catastrophic bill."
Schulkind called on the government to implement a windfall tax on big oil companies and use the revenue "to help households with the cost of living, strengthen our resilience against extreme weather, and supercharge the transition to clean, affordable energy." Shares in Shell rose 1.5% in early trading on Thursday to £33.72, the highest since early June.
