Shell share price: what to expect from its Q1 results

When is Shell’s results date?

Royal Dutch Shell will release its Q1 results and its interim dividend on May 2.

Shell results preview: what does the City expect?

Compared with the first quarter 2018, integrated gas production is expected to decrease in Q1 this year by some 140,000 – 170,000 boe/d due to divestments, the transfer of some activities into the upstream segment as of 2019 and higher maintenance activities.

Meanwhile, LNG liquefaction volumes are expected to be 0.4 – 0.7 million tonnes lower, due primarily to divestments and higher maintenance activities impacted output.

Compared with the same period last year, Shell’s upstream output is expected to be 10,000 – 50,000 boe/d lower, again because of divestments which has led to field decline. However, the decrease in production has been partly offset by ramp-ups of existing fields.

Shell’s refinery availability is expected to decrease in the first quarter 2019 compared with the same period a year earlier because of higher maintenance activity.

Oil products sales volumes are expected to be 40,000 – 70,000 boe/d lower compared with the same period a year earlier, due to its sale of its downstream business in Argentina to Raizen in October last year. The sale is part of a wider strategy by Shell to simplify its portfolio through a $30 billion divestment programme.

Corporate earnings excluding identified items are expected to be a net charge of $400 – 450 million in the first quarter 2019 and a net charge of $1.7– 1.9 billion for the full year 2019. This excludes the impact of currency exchange rate effects and the impact of IFRS 16 Leases.

Shell strikes deep-water oil discovery in Gulf of Mexico

The oil and gas major saw its share price edge higher on Thursday, after the company announced that its subsidiary Shell Offshore made a significant discovery at its deep-water Blacktip prospect in the Gulf of Mexico.

‘Blacktip is Shell’s second material discovery in the Perdido Corridor and is part of a continuing exploration strategy to add competitive deep-water options to extend our heartlands,’ said Andy Brown, upstream director for Royal Dutch Shell.

Over the last decade Shell has added a little over one billion boe in the Gulf of Mexico alone, with this latest discovery another testament to the success of the company’s global deep-water strategy, which is firmly on track to exceed 900,000 boe a day by 2020.