Shell Posted Profit Better Than Expected

Shell posted yesterday its Q3 profit, which has occured better than expected, due to high oil prices and strong output figures.

Headline profits fell from $7.2bn in the third quarter of 2005 to $6.9bn this time but were well above the $5.7bn to $6bn analysts had forecast. Shell said that, stripping out the $1.7bn gain from asset sales last year, earnings a share were up 33% on a current cost of supply basis.

"This is a good performance by the group. Our earnings have proven resilient in the face of rising industry costs and weakening refining margins," said Shell's chief executive, Jeroen van der Veer. "Operating performance has been satisfactory, LNG [liquefied natural gas] growth has been impressive in the quarter and our upstream volumes have grown despite shut-downs in Nigeria."