Shell has reported adjusted earnings of $6.22bn (£5.1bn) in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023, a 34.1% decline from $9.45bn the previous year.
The UK-based oil and gas company’s total revenue and other income fell by 21% to $78.01bn in Q3 2023 from $98.75bn in the third quarter of 2022.
Year-on-year (YoY) earnings were down as oil and gas prices fell from the record price last year due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
In Q3 2023, income attributable to Shell shareholders was $7.04bn, a 4.5% increase from Q3 2022. However, when compared with $3.13bn recorded in the second quarter of 2023, income attributable to Shell shareholders in the third quarter of 2023 soared by 124.7%.
Shell attributed this quarter-on-quarter surge mainly to higher refining margins, realised oil prices, liquified natural gas (LNG) trading and optimisation results, and upstream production. These factors were somewhat offset by reduced volumes of integrated gas.
Production of integrated gas, which includes LNG, gas-to-liquids (GTL) fuels and other products, during the June to September period was 900,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (kboed), down from 924kboed YoY.
Shell’s upstream business, which includes exploration and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids, reported a marginal 2% decline in total production to 1.75 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The energy company has announced share buybacks worth $3.5bn, which are expected to complete before the Q4 2023 results are announced.
Dividend per share during the period under review was $0.33, which is 32.4% higher than in the third quarter of last year.
Shell CEO Wael Sawan said: "Shell delivered another quarter of strong operational and financial performance, capturing opportunities in volatile commodity markets. We continue to simplify our portfolio while delivering more value with less emissions.
“Shell is commencing a $3.5bn buyback programme for the next three months, bringing the buybacks for the second half of 2023 to $6.5bn, well in excess of the $5bn announced at capital markets day in June. This takes total announced shareholder distributions for 2023 to around $23bn."
