Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s biggest oil company, beat analyst second-quarter earnings estimates while pushing ahead with a restructuring program that saw it write off about $1.9billion in US gas assets.
Profit excluding one-time items and inventory changes gained 33% percent to $6.1billion from $4.6billion a year earlier partly on higher US energy prices, Shell said today in a statement.
“The impairments we have announced today in Upstream Americas reflect the restructuring of Shell’s resources plays portfolio,” chief executive Ben van Beurden said.
“We are taking firm actions to improve Shell’s capital efficiency by selling selected assets and making tougher project decisions.”
Van Beurden, who took over from Peter Voser at the start of the year, is accelerating asset disposals and reviewing spending plans to win investor support. He returned Shell’s operations to profit in the Americas this year, where the company is deploying about $80billion.
The US gas charge was partly offset by Shell’s disposal of stakes in Australia’s Woodside Petroleum Ltd. and Wheatstone liquefied natural project, the Anglo-Dutch company said today. It made a $570million profit in producing projects in the Americas in the second quarter excluding the impairments, Shell spokesman Jonathan French said by phone.
The company wrote off $2.1billion in “liquids-rich shales properties in North America” in the second quarter last year.
Net income advanced to $5.3billion from $1.7billion a year earlier, according to Shell’s statement. The company pumped 3.077 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in the quarter, compared with 3.062 million barrels a year earlier.
Van Beurden has already completed about $8billion in assets sales this year. Shell has set a disposal program of about $15 billion through 2015.
“We have completed a new bottom-up review of our portfolio and strategy,” in Americas’ producing projects, Shell said.
“Major divestments of non-core liquids-rich shales positions are now complete.”
In Canada, it agreed to sell its holdings in the Burnt Timber, Hunter Valley and Panther River gas fields and local pipelines to CQ Energy Partnership for about $50million, Shell said today.
The company also named Harry Brekelmans as projects and technology director, taking over from Matthias Bichsel, with effect from October 1.
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