Oil company Royal Dutch Shell reported a 15 per cent drop in current cost of supply profits in the third quarter as the impact of lower crude prices, a fall in output and special charges outweighed stronger margins in refining.
Shell reported CCS net profit of $6.1 billion (€4.7 billion), down from $7.2 billion (€5.5 billion) a year ago.
Stripping out the charges based on an asset writedown for weak US gas prices, UK tax changes and other factors, the result was $6.6 billion, $300 million ahead of analyst expectations.
Production shut-ins in Nigeria due to security breaches there contributed to a fall in global liquids production of 5 per cent. Gas output fell 4 per cent.
Accounting for these factors and other one offs, Shell's oil and gas output grew only 1 per cent. The struggle for output growth has been a feature of the third quarter earnings season for all the top oil companies.
Shell said the net charge for the quarter, at $432 million against a net gain of $245 million a year earlier, also included $134 million for "legal and environmental provisions".
Shell paid out a third quarter dividend of 0.43 cents, unchanged from the second quarter and against 0.42 a year ago.
Reuters
