Shell output falls offset by soaring prices
Royal Dutch Shell reported a 33 per cent boost in second-quarter profit to $11.6bn (£5.8bn) yesterday as rising oil prices offset production bottlenecks in countries such as Nigeria.
Shell, led by chief executive Jeroen van der Veer, sold oil for 76 per cent more than it did in the same period a year ago. In July oil hit an all-time high of $147, though it has eased in recent weeks.
The world’s second largest publicly owned oil company said its overall crude output fell 1.6 per cent from a year ago to 3.126 million barrels of oil equivalent a day.
Shell has suffered a fall of 195,000 barrels a day in production in Nigeria due to attacks from local rebel gangs. Two more attacks on the firm’s operations in the central African state came last week, which led it to suspend export obligations to existing suppliers.
Van der Veer said he is “keen to make progress” on securing oil and gas contracts in Iraq as the government negotiates technical services contracts with foreign oil companies to double the state’s crude output to 4 million barrels a day over the coming years.
