Shell posts $23.4 bn profit after tax in 2018

Royal Dutch Shell said it posted $23.4 billion profit after tax for the financial year 2018. According to the oil company its net profit surged 80 per cent to $23.4 billion in 2018, because of higher oil prices and cuts in production cost. Shell in a statement said that its  profit-after-tax in 2017 was almost $13 billion. Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden, said “We delivered on our promises for the year, including the completion of the $30 billion divestment programme and starting up key growth projects while maintaining discipline on capital investment.”

Crude oil prices ended 2017 at $60/barrel, the highest end-of-year price since 2013. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices averaged $51/b in 2017, up $7/b from the 2016 average, and ended the year $6/b higher than at the end of 2016. Brent prices have moved up $10/b since the end of 2016 and ended the year at $65/b, widening the Brent-WTI spread to $5/b at the end of the year, the largest difference since 2013.

Despite relatively high U.S. crude oil production, curtailments in production by members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and robust global demand supported crude oil price increases in 2017. The OPEC agreement to curtail crude oil production in 2017 and subsequent extension of that agreement through 2018 tightened crude oil supplies, which put upward pressure on crude oil prices. jumped last year on tight supply concerns but have since fallen back sharp