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The UK-based firm said its adjusted earnings reached $6.03 billion in the third quarter, down 3.1 compared to $6.22 billion in the comparable quarter last year.
Adjusted earnings dropped 4 percent compared to $6.29 billion in the prior quarter.
Income attributable to Shell shareholders reached $4.29 billion, a drop compared to $7.04 billion in Q3 2023 and a 22 percent increase compared to $3.51 billion in the prior quarter.
Compared to the prior quarter, income attributable to Shell shareholders reflected lower refining margins, lower realized oil prices, and higher operating expenses partly offset by favorable tax movements, and higher integrated gas volumes, Shell said.
Also, income attributable to Shell shareholders included unfavorable movements relating to an accounting mismatch due to fair value accounting of commodity derivatives, charges related to redundancy and restructuring, and net impairment charges and reversals.
Shell said these items are included in identified items amounting to a net loss of $1.3 billion in the quarter.
Cash flow from operating activities for the third quarter was $14.7 billion, and primarily driven by adjusted Ebitda, and working capital inflows of $2.7 billion partly offset by tax payments of $3 billion.
CEO Wael Sawan said Shell delivered “another set of strong results.”
“We continue to deliver more value with less emissions, whilst enhancing the resilience of our balance sheet. Today, we announce another $3.5 billion buyback program for the next three months, making this the 12th consecutive quarter in which we have announced $3 billion or more in buybacks,” he said.
LNG sales, liquefaction volumes climb
The company sold 17.04 million tonnes of LNG in July-September, a rise from 16.01 million tonnes in the same period last year.
LNG sales rose 4 percent compared to 16.41 million tonnes in the prior quarter.
Shell sold 50.32 million tonnes of LNG from January to September, a 3 percent increase from 49.01 million tonnes in 2023.
In addition, liquefaction volumes rose to 7.50 million tonnes in the third quarter this year compared to 6.88 million tonnes in the comparable quarter and 6.95 million tonnes in the prior quarter.
The company’s liquefaction volumes increased by 8 percent compared to the prior quarter, mainly due to higher feedgas supply in Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago.
Shell’s liquefaction volumes increased 4 percent to 22.03 million tonnes during the first nine months of this year.
The company expects liquefaction volumes to reach about 6.9 – 7.5 million tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Shell’s total oil and gas production rose to 941,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the third quarter compared to 900,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the third quarter last year, but it dropped compared to 980,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the prior quarter.
Compared with the prior quarter, oil and gas production decreased by 4 percent, mainly due to production sharing contract effects and higher maintenance in Trinidad and Tobago, Shell said.
Integrated gas earnings rise
Shell’s integrated gas segment reported adjusted earnings of about $2.87 billion in the third quarter.
This compares to $2.53 billion in the same period a year ago and $2.67 billion in the prior quarter.
Segment earnings of $2.63 billion rose compared to $2.15 billion in the same quarter in 2023 and $2.45 billion in the previous quarter.
Shell reported that segment earnings reflected higher LNG liquefaction volumes, an increase of $237 million compared with the prior quarter.
Third-quarter segment earnings also included unfavorable movements of $213 million relating to an accounting mismatch due to fair value accounting of commodity derivatives.
Shell announced earlier this month that it expects trading and optimization results for its integrated gas business in the third quarter of this year to be in line compared with the previous quarter.