The British energy giant Shell reported robust profits following the surge in oil prices prompted by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.<\/p>\n
The company, based in London, said Thursday that its adjusted profit soared 24 percent, to $6.92 billion, in the first three months of the year from the same time last year, higher than analysts expected. Shell\u2019s first-quarter profit was more than twice what the company earned in the previous quarter, a time of seasonally lower activity.<\/p>\n
The strong financial turnout came amid an \u201cunprecedented disruption in global energy markets,\u201d the company\u2019s chief executive, Wael Sawan, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Shell said total oil and gas production fell 4 percent from the quarter before, mainly because of the Middle East war\u2019s impact in Qatar. Missile strikes reduced QatarEnergy\u2019s natural-gas export capacity, the company said in March<\/a>, including a gas-to-liquids plant that Shell operated.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have a real disruption like what we experienced from a supply point like Qatar, our portfolio is still able to respond and be able to create value,\u201d Mr. Sawan said in an interview.<\/p>\n On Thursday, the price of Brent crude oil<\/a>, the international benchmark, hovered just below $100 a barrel, an increase of about 37 percent since the war began on Feb. 28. Oil prices<\/a> briefly traded above $126 a barrel last week.<\/p>\n The oil shock has pushed up energy costs through higher prices for products like diesel and jet fuel, prompting airlines to cut flights<\/a> and reduce snack services<\/a>. Americans, spending more for gasoline and airfares, are rethinking their summer travel plans<\/a>.<\/p>\n Shell is not the only major European oil producer to report increased profits. In April, Britain\u2019s BP said it more than doubled its profit in the first quarter, to $3.2 billion, from the previous quarter, driven by superior oil trading and elevated oil prices. And the French oil company TotalEnergies<\/a>, which reported quarterly net income of $5.4 billion, said it would raise its dividend and double its share buybacks.<\/p>\n The strong returns have renewed calls for a windfall tax on oil profits<\/a>, similar to the response when oil companies benefited from higher energy prices after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n On Friday, Exxon Mobil reported $4.2 billion in first-quarter earnings, down 46 percent from a year earlier primarily because of accounting reasons, while Chevron said its quarterly profit slid to $2.2 billion, a 37 percent drop from a year earlier. Both companies attributed the decline to paper losses that would be unwound in the coming months. Unlike Shell\u2019s results, these were not adjusted for one-off items.<\/p>\n Exxon and Chevron, the two largest American oil producers, said on Friday that they are not planning to further increase oil drilling<\/a> to take advantage of higher gas prices.<\/p>\n