Shell Posts Nearly $7 Billion Profit In Third Quarter 2011

AMSTERDAM -- Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Europe's largest oil company, says profits doubled to nearly $7 billion in the third quarter because of higher oil prices and one-time gains.

Shell said Thursday net profit was $6.98 billion, up from $3.46 billion in the third quarter of 2010. Revenues rose 33 percent to $127 billion.

Shell booked a net $245 million in various one-time gains, notably the sale of a refinery in Britain. That compares with net charges of $1.4 billion this time a year ago, mostly due to impairments on assets after an accounting review of its operations in Canadian heavy oil sands and its refining arm.

"Our third quarter results were higher than year-ago levels, driven by higher oil prices and Shell's performance," said Chief Executive Peter Voser in a statement.

The results were better than the $6.54 billion analysts polled by FactSet had expected, and shares rose 1.3 percent to euro26.24 in early Amsterdam trading.

The company did not mention any financial fallout from an oil spill at its Gannet Alpha platform in the North Sea.

"Whilst ongoing concerns around safety issues and government tax takes persist, these are currently outweighed by the strength of the company's operating performance," said analyst Richard Hunter of Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers in a note on the earnings. He rates shares a Buy.

Global oil prices have risen 48 percent from this time a year ago.

The company said its production earnings were $5.44 billion, up 58 percent exluding one-time gains in both years.

Production fell 1.6 percent to 3.01 million barrels of oil per day, but Shell said that would have been a rise of 2 percent, comparing like for like. The company disposed of around 100,000 worth of production and its mature fields suffered declines, but it added 270,000 barrels of new production at projects in Qatar, Nigeria and Canada.

"Dare we say it but things appear to be going very smoothly for Royal Dutch Shell," said analyst Richard Griffith of Evolution Securities in a note on earnings. He also rates shares a Buy.

The company has been investing intensely in new capacity and plans to bring 20 new projects on line by 2014.

At Shell's "downstream" arm, which includes its refining activities, oil products and sales of chemicals, earnings increased 25 percent to $1.81 billion, excluding one-time gains in both years. The company cited healthy margins on its chemical products, as refinery margins were unchanged and intake fell.

Comments

[DocSAR]

05:49 PM on 10/28/2011

Obama and his admin are to blame. plain and simple. No prior admin has ever been so corrupt by corporate influence as Obama and his croonies.

[joetherealist]

05:06 PM on 10/28/2011

Have you seen the little piggies
Crawling in the dirt
And for all the little piggies
Life is getting worse
Always having dirt to play around in.

Have you seen the bigger piggies
In their starched white shirts
You will find the bigger piggies
Stirring up the dirt
Always have clean shirts to play around in.

In their sties with all their backing
They don't care what goes on around
In their eyes there's something lacking
What they need's a damn good whacking.

Everywhere there's lots of piggies
Living piggy lives
You can see them out for dinner
With their piggy wives
Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon.

[Flight]

02:48 PM on 10/28/2011

Ahhh....only 7 billion? Too bad they didn't match Exxon Mobil with their 10+ billion in profits. I guess our govt will need to give them more of our tax dollars in loopholes to make up the difference.

[vippy]

02:28 PM on 10/28/2011

But they need another tax break!

[ClarcKing]

12:25 PM on 10/28/2011

Shell's record profits, via the magic of market machinations and speculation, should indicate that the consumer is paying too much for gas.

[Bill Roth]

11:46 AM on 10/28/2011

Wow! Only 7 billion profit. What other choice do we have. Hate to sound like a socialist but, when is it a good time to make it a utility? Can't we as a public give these guys more tax deductions to increase their profit even more? It is a natural resource. And it is not like they own them. Just the technology to retrieve the crude. And the refineries. And the shipping and the trucking. A lot of jobs are created off this industry. The R&D that comes up with cheaper fuels is employed by them also. So, what is the total profit from this industry? Food for thought.

[muck-raker]

05:14 AM on 10/28/2011

http://motherjones.com/media/2011/05/zina-saunders-tax-breaks-oil-companies

[muck-raker]

05:10 AM on 10/28/2011

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/big-oil-to-congress-dont-f-k-with-us-20110513

[anonymous67]

01:45 AM on 10/28/2011

The rape of American consumers continues unabated while our congressmen dine with lobbyists. The laws of supply and demand, free markets, etc. do not apply. The ones that do apply are bribery, market manipulation, corruption, etc.

[caliber44c]

12:02 AM on 10/28/2011

The people in the US should not be paying so much for gas, it is a plot to make us pay as much as they do in Europe for gas !! In those countries gas in sold by the litre, and costs as much as $7 per gallon, an emperial gallon is a little more than a regular gallon ( 5 litres )....... We should be paying as much as the Mexicans pay, about $1.75 per gallon of gas !! That is THE MOST WE SHOULD BE PAYING FOR GAS IN THIS COUNTRY !! YOUR POLITICIANS AND THE RICH PROFIT FROM HIGH GAS PRICES NOT US !! FOOD, RENT, AND UTILITY PRICES ALL RISE WHEN GAS DOES, ONLY THOSE OTHER PRICES DO NOT FALL WHEN GAS DOES !!
IT IS GOUGING AT ITS BEST, AND ONLY HURTS THE MIDDLE TO POOR CLASS OF PEOPLE !! IF ANYONE IS CAUSING A CLASS WAR, IT IS BIG BUSINESS AND WALL STREET FOR MAKING US PAY MORE THAN WE SHOULD AND CAN'T AFFORD !!!
MAKE WAR ON THE GAS AND OIL COMPANIES THAT HAVE BEEN RIPPING US OFF FOR MANY DECADES NOW !!!!!!!! JUST LOOK UP ALL THE TAX BREAKS AND CONCESSIONS THEY GET FROM OUR GOVERNMENT ONLY TO RIP US OFF EVEN MORE !!!!!!

[muck-raker]

05:21 AM on 10/28/2011

http://motherjones.com/environment/2011/09/oil-speculators-goldman-sachs

[El Justiciero]

11:22 AM on 10/28/2011

Why should we be paying less for a finite & dwindling resource with ever increasing demand? The Europeans probably pay closer to the true cost of oil. Actually, you pay just as much if not more than the Europeans do for your gas . . . just not all at the pump. The true costs are externalized so nobody thinks about them when they pay them.

[driller7530]

11:56 PM on 10/27/2011

ahh well time to close down the whiners, the series is into overtime y'all gotta go ROTFLMAO

[Phate James]

11:56 PM on 10/27/2011

And they wonder why people are rioting in the streets in europe, they wonder why there are protest rallies all over the united states but do the politicians care? No because the oil companies have the federal government in their pockets. The greed from the oil industry has crushed the economy of this country and put us in such a state that I dont think we will ever recover. I am building an electric car so I can say F@#K YOU to the oil companies for good.

[caliber44c]

11:55 PM on 10/27/2011

No politician is going to complain ! They are all invested in that obscene profit we gripe about !!
But that is exactly why we are being gouged at the pumps, because they know we will keep on paying whatever price they set because we need to get to work, store, doctor, etc..........
Nothing will change until you BOYCOTT THE STATIONS !! STOP PAYING FOR GAS AND RIDE A BIKE OR WALK !! STOP THE SALES OF GAS AND OIL, AND YOU STOP THE PROFITS !!
YOU MAY GET LOWER PRICES BUT THEY WILL RISE EVEN HIGHER AS SOON AS THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH IT !! THE ONLY WAY FOR THIS TO STOP IS FOR CONGRESS TO PASS A LAW BANNING THOSE KINDS OF PROFITS, AND GOUGING OF THE PUBLIC !!
THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN, SO BOYCOTT ALL GAS STATIONS, AND PEACEFULLY DEMONSTRATE IN FRONT OF THEM !! THE SIGNS SHOULD SAY " GOUGING, AND PAYING FOR YOUR CONGRESSMAN" !!

[El Justiciero]

11:25 AM on 10/28/2011

I'm all for riding more public transportation, bicycles & walking more. It's a healthier lifestyle too. I just don't think you can make a dent in their profits. There's too much demand and it'll never subside till there are viable alternatives or no more oil.

[TheTruth76]

10:39 PM on 10/27/2011

You wana know want i thing is funny!!!!!!!! I get my gas as shell gas stations in Houston,TX! I have noticed that if the gas price for unlead gas is 3.85 or 3.75 or 3.65 or 3.55 or 3.45 or 3.35 or the price now which is 3.25. That the price to fill up my truck is 80.00 dollars if it is 3.85 or 3.25!!! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!! PRICE GOES DOWN BUT THE COST IS THE SAME! This is the reason i keep all my receipts and trying to talk to a lawyer. THIS HAS TO STOP!

[wsa999]

12:36 AM on 10/28/2011

Is the lawyer free?

[juststeve35]

10:35 PM on 10/27/2011

While the actual dollar amounts are enormous, this simply represents a healthy 5-6% net profit...

Let's quit demeaning the fact that someone makes a profit, and start looking at the amount of waste, graft, fraud and corruption incorporated in our national budget.

If we attack the wasted billions, we could easily reduce the tax burden on us Citizens... and don't forget about all the so-called 'hidden' taxes on gas, cigarettes, heck even phone and internet service just to scratch the surface!

Reduce the waste in the budget, spending is reduced... which allows for tax cuts that we could actually afford...

Reduced taxes = more cash in our pockets = less personal debt = more personal discretionary income = more individual spending, which in and of itself is HUGE economic stimulus...

We don't need to reduce Social Services to our fellow Citizens who TRULY need it! We need to reduce the fraud/waste/etc pandemic in those services... We don't need to reduce our Defense Budget! We need to reduce the waste and fraud that runs rampant through the Defense industry...

Let's STOP FIGHTING and start working together for solutions that make sense! Every one of us manages to balance our own personal budgets when times get tough, usually by cutting out the waste in our personal expenses. Let's do the same as a nation!