LNG giant Shell said it would boost its shareholder distributions beginning in the second quarter after a strong rise in oil and gas prices.
“As a result of strong operational and financial delivery, combined with an improved macro-economic outlook, Shell will move to the next phase of its capital allocation framework and, subject to final board approval, increase total shareholder distributions to within the range of 20-30% of CFFO,” it said on Wednesday.
Shell said in a statement ahead of its quarterly results it would determine the level of additional distributions with full visibility of the second-quarter financial results.
In the quarter, Shell expects to have further reduced its net debt.
In conjunction with the increased distributions, Shell would retire its net debt milestone of $65 billion and would continue to target further strengthening of its balance sheet and AA credit metrics, the Hague-based firm said. 2021 cash capex would remain below $22 billion.
In addition, Shell expects LNG liquefaction volumes to reach between 7.1 and 7.7 million tonnes, reflecting “additional unplanned maintenance activities,” it said.
