Shell Plc (SHEL) posted its highest quarterly profit in four years, driven by a trading windfall and surging fuel prices triggered by the widening Middle East conflict. The London-based energy giant said Thursday that adjusted net income for the second quarter soared to $9.84 billion, more than double the $4.26 billion reported a year earlier and comfortably above the company-provided consensus estimate of $8.92 billion.

The result marks the company’s strongest performance since the second quarter of 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent oil and gas prices skyrocketing and Shell earned $11.47 billion. The latest profit surge was fueled by the extreme volatility that gripped global energy markets after the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran, threatening crude and liquefied natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and creating ideal conditions for Shell’s vast trading operations.

“Volatility has become the new normal,” Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan said in an interview. “We have been working to build a company that thrives in volatility. The macro environment certainly lifted commodity prices and provided strong tailwinds for our performance, but two things we can control are operational performance and our very strong trading and optimization capability, and we continue to excel at both.”

Shell’s integrated gas division, home to the world’s largest LNG trading desk, delivered profit of $2.7 billion, a 55% jump from the prior year and well ahead of expectations. The chemicals and products unit, which houses the oil product trading business, swung to a $2.3 billion profit from just $118 million a year ago, as refining margins swelled and the company ran its global refineries at 102% utilization — the highest level since it changed its methodology in 2022. Jet fuel output alone surged 20% year-on-year, buoyed by aviation demand and processing capacity.

Operating cash flow, including working capital movements, hit $21.4 billion, also the highest since 2022. Net debt fell to $41.75 billion from $52.6 billion at the end of the first quarter, pushing gearing — the debt-to-equity ratio including leases — down to 18.7%, below the company’s 20% comfort threshold. Shell maintained its quarterly share buyback pace at $3 billion and kept its 2026 capital expenditure outlook unchanged at $24 billion to $26 billion.

Qatar Disruption Caps Upside

Yet the same conflict that supercharged Shell’s trading desks also dealt a direct blow to its production base. Output from the integrated gas division slumped 31% year-on-year after operations at the Pearl gas-to-liquids plant in Qatar were halted in March, when an attack damaged one of the facility’s two trains. Sawan said the Qatari plant remains offline and that repairs could take roughly a year, limiting Shell’s ability to fully capitalize on elevated gas prices.

The Middle East accounts for roughly 20% of Shell’s total oil and gas production, or about 550,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with approximately 10% tied to Qatar. The disruption underscores the double-edged nature of a conflict that has enriched traders while physically impairing energy infrastructure.

Rivals Also Reap Windfall

Shell is not alone in benefiting from the upheaval. European peers BP Plc (BP) and TotalEnergies SE (TTE), along with U.S. supermajors ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) and Chevron Corp. (CVX), have all been buoyed by the price spikes and volatility. The world’s top commodity trading houses have also posted bumper results this quarter.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed above $90 a barrel Thursday, with the September contract trading at $92.50 on the Intercontinental Exchange, up 2.33% on the day. Prices had surged nearly 8% in the previous session to an intraday high of $90.80. The rally followed U.S. strikes on Iran in retaliation for attacks on American military assets and came amid reports of explosions near Iran’s oil hub in Khuzestan province.

Shell’s London-listed shares have risen about 21% this year, though the stock still trails the gains posted by BP, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil and Chevron over the same period.