British energy giant Shell said Thursday its second-quarter net income more than quintupled to $18 billion, fueled by rebounding oil and gas prices, and rewarded shareholders with another buyback.
The earnings increase in the three months ended June was partly due to a $4.3 billion impairment reversal after the company raised its forecasts for the gas and oil markets.
“We have delivered strong financial results,” said CEO Ben van Beurden alongside the earnings statement.
The London-listed energy giant announced a $6 billion share buyback program after returning $8.5 billion to shareholders.
Van Beurden also warned that “consumers, governments and businesses will continue to face challenges in 2022, with volatile energy markets, economic turmoil and the ongoing need for action to combat climate change.”
Shell had rebounded to a profit of $3.4 billion in the second quarter of 2021 from a loss of $18.1 billion in the same period of 2020, when a massive write-down was taken in the Covid-ravaged oil market .
However, oil and gas prices have skyrocketed this year due to the Ukraine war and countries lifting pandemic lockdowns.
Gas prices, which skyrocketed in March after Russia began invading Ukraine, are rising again this week after Moscow cut key supplies to Europe in recent days.
World energy companies are reaping the rewards of this year’s surge in global oil and gas prices as a result of the war in Ukraine.
French conglomerate TotalEnergies announced on Thursday that second-quarter net income more than doubled year-on-year to 5.7 billion euros ($5.8 billion).
“The energy sector continues to suffer from the supply and demand imbalance caused by the crisis in Ukraine,” said Laura Hoy, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
The Ukraine war has meanwhile triggered an exodus of Western energy companies from Russia.
Earlier this year, Shell posted a first-quarter profit of $7.1 billion, despite charging a $3.9 billion fee for withdrawing from Russian operations.
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