Shell plc (SHEL)

Shell reported income for its shareholders of $10.8 billion for the second quarter of 2026, up from $5.7 billion in the first quarter 2. The company put the gain down to higher realised prices, more LNG trading, better chemicals margins and more crude and oil products trading 2. Lower volumes, mainly from the Middle East conflict's hit to its Qatari output, pulled the other way 2.

The conflict reached Shell directly: LNG production in Qatar was shut down from early March, and an attack on Ras Laffan on 18 March started a fire inside the Pearl GTL plant 6. Pearl turns natural gas into liquid fuels and base oils, and Shell owns all of it 1. Shell partially restarted Pearl in October, and a Shell spokesperson told Reuters that repairs to its Train 2 were expected to finish in the first quarter of next year 7.

The other big change is Canada: on 2 September 2026 Shell completed its purchase of ARC Resources, a gas and liquids producer in the Montney shale basin 5. Shell says the deal adds about 370 thousand barrels of oil equivalent a day 5. Third-quarter results are due on 29 October 2026, and Shell's own outlook for that quarter includes ARC 3.

The modern Shell was shaped in 2016, when it bought BG Group, a British gas producer, and then sold some $30 billion of assets it no longer wanted 13. BG made Shell one of the largest sellers of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, gas chilled into a liquid so ships can carry it 13. Revenue that year was $233.6 billion 13.

Revenue rose to $388.4 billion in 2018, with income of $23.9 billion that year 13. Most of that money passed straight through, because purchases from others cost Shell $294.4 billion the same year 13.

Then 2020 broke the pattern: the COVID-19 pandemic cut fuel demand, and revenue fell to $180.5 billion with a loss of $21.5 billion 13. Much of the loss was write-downs: Integrated Gas alone booked $9.3 billion of impairments, mostly on its Queensland Curtis LNG and Prelude floating LNG plants in Australia, after Shell cut its long-term price outlook 13. The fourth-quarter 2020 dividend was $0.1665 a share 13.

Shareholders backed a simplification on 10 December 2021: one line of shares replaced the A and B shares, the top two executives moved to the UK, and Royal Dutch Shell plc became Shell plc 15. Income recovered to $20.6 billion in 2021 14.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent energy prices soaring in 2022, and Shell's revenue reached $381.3 billion, with income of $42.9 billion 14. Leaving Russia, including its Sakhalin-2 gas stake, cost $4.2 billion before tax that year 14.

Wael Sawan became chief executive on 1 January 2023 and set a theme of performance, discipline and simplification 1. As prices eased, revenue slid from $316.6 billion in 2023 to $284.3 billion in 2024 and $266.9 billion in 2025 1. Income held between $16.5 billion and $19.6 billion, helped by cost cuts of $5.1 billion against 2022 1.

Shell also reshaped what it owns in 2025 1. It bought Pavilion Energy, a Singapore LNG trader, shipped the first cargo from LNG Canada, sold its onshore Nigerian oil company and put its UK North Sea fields into Adura, a joint venture 1. It also sold its Singapore chemicals park and stopped building a biofuels plant in Rotterdam 1.

The money went back to owners: in 2025 Shell paid $8.5 billion of dividends and bought back $13.9 billion of its own shares 1. That shrank the average share count from about 7.3 billion (computed) in 2022 to about 5.9 billion (computed) in 2025, worked out from income and earnings per share 141.

Integrated Gas and LNG

Integrated Gas finds and produces natural gas, turns it into LNG or into gas-to-liquids fuels, and trades LNG around the world 2. In 2025 it sold 72.9 million tonnes of LNG and liquefied 28.4 million tonnes in plants it part owns 1. Its adjusted earnings, the company's measure that strips out one-off items, fell to $8.0 billion from $11.4 billion on lower trading and prices 1.

The plants span Australia, where Shell owns 67.5 percent of the Prelude floating LNG plant, Nigeria, Oman, Trinidad and Tobago, Qatar and Canada 1. Shell owns 40 percent of LNG Canada, which shipped its first cargo in June 2025 1. The Qatar conflict cut the segment's second-quarter 2026 production by 31 percent against the first quarter 2.

Upstream: oil and gas fields

Upstream explores for and pumps crude oil and gas, much of it from deep water in the Gulf of America, Brazil and Nigeria 1. It produced 1,828 thousand barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2025 and earned $7.4 billion on an adjusted basis 1. In June 2026 Shell agreed to sell its Na Kika platform stake and the Coulomb tieback in the Gulf for $1.7 billion 2.

Marketing: stations, lubricants, aviation and marine

Marketing runs the Shell-branded fuel stations, 42,724 locations at the end of 2025, and sells lubricants, aviation fuel and marine fuel 1. Mobility and Lubricants had their best results ever in 2025, and the segment earned $4.0 billion on an adjusted basis 1. Shell sold Jiffy Lube, its US oil-change chain, for $1.3 billion on 30 June 2026 2.

Chemicals and Products: refineries and chemical plants

This segment refines crude oil into fuels and makes chemicals, at refineries such as Pernis in the Netherlands, Norco in Louisiana and Scotford in Alberta 1. Pernis can process 447 thousand barrels a day, and the Monaca plant in Pennsylvania can make 1.6 million tonnes of polyethylene a year 110. Chemicals kept losing money in 2025, and the segment's adjusted earnings fell to $1.1 billion 1.

Trading drove a sharp second quarter in 2026, when the segment earned $2.9 billion on an adjusted basis 2.

Renewables and Energy Solutions

This segment trades power and pipeline gas, runs some renewable and gas-fired plants, and builds carbon storage and hydrogen projects such as Northern Lights in Norway and a renewable hydrogen plant in the Netherlands 1. It earned $0.2 billion on an adjusted basis in 2025 1. In July 2026 Shell agreed to sell Sprng Energy, an Indian renewables group, for $1.8 billion 2.

People and plants

Shell employed around 85,000 people in more than 70 countries at the end of 2025 1. Wael Sawan, an engineer who joined in 1997, has run it since 1 January 2023, Sinead Gorman has been finance chief since 1 April 2022, and Sir Andrew Mackenzie chairs the board 1.

At the 19 May 2026 annual meeting, 98.86 percent of votes cast backed Sawan's reappointment, and a shareholder resolution won only 13.01 percent 16.

Rivals

Shell measures its pay awards against four rivals it names itself: bp, Chevron, ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies 1. It works beside some of them too, as with Chevron in the Whale field in the Gulf and Gorgon LNG in Australia 1.

Current problems

The Middle East conflict is the largest: Qatari LNG and Pearl GTL output were cut, and Shell says safe operation at Pearl depends on ships passing the Strait of Hormuz 27. In the Netherlands, climate campaigners led by Milieudefensie appealed to the Dutch Supreme Court after Shell won a 2024 appeal over cutting its emissions 1.

Raízen, Shell's 44 percent Brazilian fuels and ethanol venture, filed a debt restructuring plan in June 2026 that would dilute Shell's stake 2. Shell would put in BRL 3.5 billion ($685 million) once conditions are met 2. A São Paulo court approved the plan on 30 July, with Shell to lead the new money, Agência Cenário Energia reported 12.

The umbrella, in words

Shell plc, incorporated in England and Wales, sits on top of a group whose subsidiaries include Shell USA, Inc., Shell Canada Limited and the Singapore LNG trader Pavilion Energy 171. Since 2 September 2026 it also owns ARC Resources outright, paid for with cash and about 228 million new Shell shares 518.

Shell owns parts of large ventures rather than all of them: 40 percent of LNG Canada, 44 percent of Raízen, 30 percent of QatarEnergy LNG N(4) and 25 percent of Nigeria LNG 1. It operates Pearl GTL in Qatar with a 100 percent interest under a contract with the government 1.

No one controls Shell: its one class of shares carries equal votes, and the only holder above 5 percent it lists is BlackRock, Inc., with 8.1 percent from a 2025 Schedule 13G/A 1.

Shell's next results, for the third quarter, are scheduled for 29 October 2026 3. Its update note expects Integrated Gas production of 740 to 780 thousand barrels of oil equivalent a day, including ARC 3. The note also flags an outflow of about $2.5 billion for German emissions certificates 3.

For spending, the company expects cash capital expenditure of $24 billion to $26 billion in 2026 2. After the ARC deal it said the range for 2027 and 2028 stays at $20 billion to $22 billion 4. The company plans to hand 40 to 50 percent of operating cash flow to shareholders through the cycle, with the dividend growing 4 percent a year 4.

Shell said in July it plans to buy back $4.2 billion (computed) of shares by the third-quarter results 2. It expects ARC to lift production growth to about 4 percent a year through 2030 against 2025, and to bring about $250 million of yearly savings within a year of closing 54.

New supply is scheduled: LNG Canada Phase 2, approved on 29 September 2026, doubles the plant to 28 million tonnes a year, with operations expected in the early 2030s 8. Shell's 40 percent share brings it nearly 6 million tonnes a year more 8.

In the UK North Sea, the government approved the Jackdaw gas field on 21 October 2026, and Adura, the Shell and Equinor venture, expects gas to flow within weeks 9. Adura is still waiting on a separate decision for the Rosebank field 9.

Several deals await approvals: the Na Kika sale and the Sprng sale are both expected to close by the end of 2026 2. Raízen's plan ends automatically if its conditions are not met by 31 March 2027, unless extended once by up to six months 2.

Past

Shell plc's revenue moved from $234 billion in fiscal 2016 to $267 billion in fiscal 2025, rising 1.5% a year over ten filed years, and rose in 4 of 9 years. The deepest fall was 54% from fiscal 2018 to fiscal 2020. Net income was positive in 9 of 10 of those years. Over the three fiscal years to 2025, Shell's diluted share count shrank about 7.1% a year, and dividends and buybacks returned about 28% of its operating cash flow over three years. Shell's filings since 2017 show no warning events: no bankruptcy or receivership notice, no debt default notice, no exchange listing notice, no restatement warning, no auditor change, no material cyber incident and no late-report notice. 1

Present

In its latest annual figures on file, for the fiscal year ended 2025-12-31, Shell reported revenue of $267 billion and a profit of $18 billion. In the fiscal year ended 2025-12-31, Shell earned about 10 cents of profit for every dollar of shareholders' money, owed about 53 cents per dollar of assets, and its share count shrank 6.5% over the year. Shell's revenue of $267 billion in fiscal 2025 ranks in the top 1% by size among its industry family; a net margin of 6.8% ranks in the bottom 45%; revenue growth of -11.2% a year over the last 3 filed years ranks in the bottom 30%. Shell files no Form 8-K (a foreign issuer reports on Form 6-K), so officer and director changes cannot be read there; no officer or director has filed a Form 3, 4 or 5 for it in the last fifteen months, so the years in charge cannot be read. 21

Future

An annual report, foreign filer (Form 20-F) for the fiscal year ending 2026-12-31 is due by 2027-04-30; foreign filers have four months after the fiscal year ends. Shell's room to grow, from the newest filed statements, leaves it with cash of $30 billion against debt of $76 billion and cash from operations less capital spending of 16.1% of revenue. Revenue grew -11.2% a year over the last three filed years against 1.5% over all ten, and the newest year grew -6.1%. Shell's revenue of $267 billion in fiscal 2025 came in 8.7% above the $246 billion its prior three years' pace pointed to; net income of $18 billion came in against a prior three-year average of $26 billion; a net margin of 6.8% came in against 7.8% before. 31

How the company operates

Shell is classed as a commodity producer in the crude petroleum and natural gas industry. Shell tags no split of its revenue by line of business in the annual report on file. 21

New moves

On 2026-09-14, Shell filed a Form 25-NSE, a delisting notice from the exchange, removing a class of securities. On 2026-06-08, Shell filed a Form 424B3, a shelf offering document filed when registered securities are resold. On 2026-10-21, the UK approved the Jackdaw gas field after a court quashed its first consent; Shell and Equinor's Adura can start North Sea gas production within weeks. On 2026-10-12, Shell said its five evacuated Gulf assets had no storm damage as oil shut-ins fell below 58 percent. 34