Shell profits soar after oil price bounce back

Shell reported underlying earnings more than doubling to $15.8bn (€12.7bn) last year, up from $7.2bn (€5.79bn) in 2017.

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has hailed a "strong" annual performance after profits more than doubled thanks to the surging cost of crude.

The group posted underlying earnings of $15.8bn (€12.7bn) last year, up from $7.2bn (€5.79bn) in 2017.

It said fourth quarter underlying earnings rose 140% to $4.3bn (€3.4bn).

Shell shares fell 2% after its full-year figures.

The group's results have benefited as oil prices have risen past $70 a barrel for the first time in more than three years, boosted by supply curbs from oil cartel Opec, a record run of declines in US crude inventories and a weaker US dollar.

Ben van Beurden, chief executive of Shell, said: "2017 was a year of strong financial performance for Shell. A year of transformation, in which we showed we have what it takes to deliver a world-class investment case."

"We enter 2018 with continued discipline and confidence, committed to the delivery of strong returns and cash," he added.

The group said its annual earnings, which came in just higher than City expectations, were bolstered by the oil price rally and higher production levels from new oil fields, which offset declines from existing fields as well as its mammoth asset-selling programme.

Steve Clayton, a fund manager at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Shell's overall financial position is much improved from the dark days of 2015."

He added the full-year results "show the company emerging leaner and healthier after a period of intense pressure for the energy sector".

"The outlook for the current year will, as always, be much influenced by oil and gas price movements, but current levels are well above the 2017 averages, which bodes well," he added.