Royal Dutch Shell’s profits surged in the first three months of the year on the back of rising oil prices. London, UK | – The Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas supermajor  said profits on a current cost of supply measure (CCS) – which strips out price fluctuations – jumped to $3.4billion (£2.6billion) from $1billion last year. A 55% rise in oil prices in the first quarter of 2017 compared with a year earlier was the main driver of profits. Excluding one-off items, profits on the …

London, UK | – Multinational energy supermajor Royal Dutch Shell announced on Tuesday  that it rebounded into the black in the third quarter, aided by rising output and cost-cutting after its takeover of BG Group. Earnings after taxation hit US$1.4 billion (€1.3 billion) in the three months to September, against a net loss of US$7.4 billion last year, which was skewed by vast write-downs after the scrapping projects in Alaska and Canada. Chief Executive Ben van Beurden cautioned however that ultra-low oil prices continued to …

London, UK | – British multinational integrated oil and gas company,  BP Plc  reported a near halving in third-quarter earnings on Tuesday and cut its 2016 investment plans by another $1-billion as weak oil prices cut into profits yet tighter spending helped the British oil major still beat analysts’ estimates. BP, which plans to lay off around 7,000 workers by the end of next year, said it was expecting further charges related to redundancies and other restructuring measures next year, adding to the $2.1-billion in …

Houston-Texas, US | – Halliburton, an American multinational corporation and one of the world’s largest oil field services companies, reported Wednesday a tiny profit in the third quarter of this year as the nearly two-year oil bust begins to fade. According to a statement issued on Wednesday, the Houston-based company said that it earned 6 million U.S. dollars in the third quarter of the year after losing 3.2 billion dollars in the second quarter. The company reported revenues of 3.8 billion dollars, essentially unchanged from …

Paris, France | – French oil giant Total has announced a 4.0 per cent slide in net profit in the second quarter while increased output, costs savings and improved refinery margins helped offset plunging oil prices. The group said it would exceed its projected $US1.2 billion ($A1.64 billion) in cost savings this year, adding that it sold off 20 per cent of its Laggan-Tormore gas fields north of Scotland for nearly €800 million ($A1.21 billion). Energy groups have been slashing their investments in a bid …