Shell Profits Nearly Double to $10.8 Billion as Refining Margins Hit Record

8 billion, nearly double compared to the same period last year, as the Middle East crisis squeezed fuel supplies and hiked oil and gas prices. 432 billion earnings a year ago. The third-quarter earnings “reflect strong operational performance in a continued volatile and elevated commodity price environment with record refining margins,” the supermajor said. Shell’s global indicative refining margin almost doubled to a record high of $42 per barrel in the third quarter, up from $24 per barrel for the second quarter.

Shell had already guided earlier this month that its refining margin for the third quarter nearly doubled sequentially to hit a record high. The record refining margins, combined with strong trading results and high oil and gas realizations, yielded windfall profits for the supermajor.