Shell anticipates that refineries will nearly double the profit generated from each barrel of fuel produced. The market value of Shell reached a peak of £36.23 per share by the close of last month.
Shell forecasts profit margins of $42 per barrel for the period spanning July to September. Profit margins stood at $24 per barrel during the second quarter.
The Middle East crisis contributed to Shell achieving a profit of almost $10 billion, or £7.5 billion, for the second quarter of 2026. This second-quarter profit represented more than double the amount recorded in the same period of the previous year.
Brent crude averaged $85.60 per barrel across the third quarter. Furthermore, the diesel price premium over the global oil benchmark surpassed $100 per barrel for the first time.
Patrick Pouyanné, chief executive of TotalEnergies, welcomed the opportunities presented by the global energy crisis. Pouyanné stated, “We’re doing really well by being integrated. Integration means your refineries in Europe, which you thought were liabilities, are suddenly becoming goldmines.”
In August, Europe’s benchmark gas price index more than doubled, reaching €70.50, which equates to £60. The average gas price during the second quarter reached over €48 per megawatt-hour.
Gas prices climbed to nearly €64 per megawatt-hour in the third quarter. Shell reduced its gas output by a third because of damage sustained at a key gas processing facility in the Gulf from the Iran crisis.
The company expects its gas production to increase to approximately 740,000 to 780,000 barrels of oil equivalent daily. Shell recorded output of about 631,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the second quarter.
