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Times Online: Shell full year profits hit record £13.9 billion

January 31, 2008

Shell’s numbers beat City expectations by a shade as lower output levels were offset by $100 barrel oil Angela Jameson

Concerns over the excessive profits made by oil companies were reignited today when Shell, the Anglo-Dutch giant, revealed a 9 per cent leap in full year profits to a new record of $27.6 billion (£13.9 bn).

The world’s second biggest quoted oil company said fourth quarter income climbed 60 per cent, during a period when the oil price soared to $100 a barrel and prices at the petrol pump climbed to more than a £1 a litre.

Union leaders called the results “obscene” at a time when pensioners, motorists and industry were struggling to pay higher energy prices.

Tony Woodley, the General Secretary of Unite, demanded that the Government levy a windfall tax on the oil majors.

However, Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, called the profits, which beat City expectations, “satisfactory”.

He said: “We made good progress in 2007, launched new projects upstream and downstream, and achieved exploration successes.”

Record oil prices offset the impact of lower oil production and higher downstream costs and taxes. The company also gave warning that it continued to see weak refining margins in the fourth quarter, particularly in the US Gulf Coast and US West Coast.

Shell has achieved lower refining margins than the industry average due to unpanned downtime in some of its refineries.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article3281285.ece

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