Energy giant Shell has reported a loss in the third quarter of this year, while its LNG sales dropped when compared to the same period last year.
The Hague-based firm said its loss attributable to shareholders in the third quarter amounted to $447 million, compared to an income of $489 million posted a year ago.
Shell said this includes non-cash charges of $5.2 billion due to the fair value accounting of commodity derivatives and post-tax impairment charges of $0.3 billion.
Adjusted earnings reached $4.13 billion in the quarter, down 25 percent compared to the prior quarter but up more than four times compared with $955 million a year ago.
Cost of supplies adjustment attributable to Shell shareholders for the third quarter was negative $0.5 billion. Shell said Hurricane Ida impacted the company’s operations, with an
aggregate adverse impact of around $0.4 billion on adjusted earnings.
“This quarter we’ve generated record cash flow, maintained capital discipline and announced our intention to distribute $7 billion to our shareholders from the sale of our Permian assets,” chief executive Ben van Beurden, said.
“Today, we also set a new 2030 target to halve the absolute emissions from our operations, compared to 2016 levels on a net basis. Altogether, this is clear evidence of how we are accelerating our Powering Progress strategy, purposefully and profitably,” he said.
LNG volumes and sales down
Shell sold 15.18 million tonnes of LNG in the July-September period, compared to 17.63 million tonnes in the same period last year, and 15.92 million tonnes in the prior quarter.
Liquefaction volumes also dropped year-on-year from 7.80 million tonnes to 7.39 million tonnes but also compared to the previous quarter of 7.49 million tonnes. Shell said the volumes dropped 1 percent due to “feedgas constraints and cargo timing, partly offset by lower maintenance activities.”
Shell’s integrated gas segment logged a loss of $3.24 billion, compared to a loss of $151 million in the same period a year ago and a profit of $422 million in the prior quarter.
Adjusted earnings reached $1.68 billion, rising 4 percent from the previous quarter but also from $768 million in the same period last year.
This quarter included losses of $4.92 billion due to the fair value accounting of commodity derivatives, primarily due to gas price developments, Shell said.