Shell Rakes in Billions, Touts LNG & Trading Gains — Because Cashill isn’t Climate
Big Profits, Bigger Spin
Shell has released a Q3 2025 trading update that reads like a corporate victory lap. According to OilPrice, the company expects its Integrated Gas (LNG + trading/optimization) business to deliver “significantly higher” results compared to Q2. Refining margins are forecast to jump to $11.60 per barrel (from $8.90). Upstream production is guided to 1.79–1.89 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. Meanwhile, LNG liquefaction is expected to rise to 7.0–7.4 million metric tons.
In short: Shell is banking on gas trading + optimized operations to mask weaker parts of the empire.
Signs of market reaction are already visible: shell shares allegedly gained ~2%, bringing YTD share appreciation to ~13%.
The Caveats & Reality Check
$600 million impairment: Shell is also absorbing a non-cash hit tied to scrapping its Rotterdam biofuels project.
Brazil drag: The company expects a $0.2–0.4 billion drag due to adjustments in its interest in Brazil’s Tupi field.
Chemical woes: Refining looks okay, but Chemical margins are expected to decline.
Thus, Shell’s gamble is: let the gas + trading shine shine shine while the other bits limp in the background.
Who’s Watching, Who’s Cheering?
Shell’s biggest institutional shareholders — BlackRock, Vanguard, sovereign wealth funds — have spent recent years pushing ESG and climate accountability. Now, here comes Shell saying: “Gas trading is our future.” That disconnect is glaring. Is this a pivot or a pivot-hold-on-to-fossil lifeline?
And don’t forget: Shell’s past disasters — leaks, safety incidents, environmental liabilities — still loom as financial and reputational risks. Big returns now might vanish if another scandal erupts.
WTF Shell?
Shell is seeking to rebrand itself as a gas-powered optimization behemoth. But here’s the core:
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You can’t call your fossil fuel business “climate credible” just because you optimized more than last quarter.
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When you sell a biofuels plant, take impairment losses, and still expect cheers for your Q3 outlook — that’s spin, not transition.
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Trading and optimization are nice, but full profits depend on markets, volatility, regulation, and luck.
This is not “Powering Progress.” It’s “Profits Over Progress.”
Disclaimer
Warning: satire ahead. The criticisms are pointed, the humour intentional, and the facts stubbornly real. Quotes are reproduced word-for-word from trusted sources. As for authorship, John Donovan and AI both claim credit, but the jury’s still out on who was really in charge.
This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
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