Oil price increase helps to send Shell’s profits into overdrive
The Anglo-Dutch group’s profits rose 11 per cent to $7.66 billion (£4.75bn) in the three months to end-March as the average oil price shot up to $118.60 a barrel from $105.43 a year ago.
As production rose 1.4 per cent to 3.55 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, exploration and production profits climbed to $6.25bn in Q1 from $4.64bn.
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Hide AdThe “downstream business” – essentially refining, minerals and marketing – reported a 32 per cent fall in profits to $1.12bn from $1.65bn a year ago and a $278m loss in the final quarter of 2011.