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3rd Quarter 2007 Results

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Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies Results

Royal Dutch Shell


3rd Quarter 2007 results

  • Royal Dutch Shell’s third quarter 2007 earnings, on a current cost of supply (CCS) basis, were $6.4 billion compared to $6.9 billion a year ago. Basic CCS earnings per share decreased by 6% versus the same quarter a year ago.
  • From 2007 onwards the Group is declaring its dividends in US dollars rather than in euros. A third quarter 2007 dividend has been announced of $0.36 per share, an increase of 14% over the US dollar dividend for the same period in 2006.
  • $1.5 billion or 0.6% of Royal Dutch Shell shares were bought back for cancellation during the quarter.


Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer commented: “Given the weaker industry refining margins we have seen in the quarter, these are satisfactory results, underpinned by Shell’s operating performance. We continue to rejuvenate our portfolio with sustained investment in new legacy assets, and through disposals. I am pleased with progress during the quarter, with the launch of new refining and liquefied natural gas projects, and further asset sales. The execution of our strategy is on track.”



Summary unaudited results

QUARTERS

$ million

NINE MONTHS

Q3

Q2

Q3

%1

 

 

 

 

2007

2007

2006

 

 

2007

2006

%

6,916

8,667

5,942

+16

Income attributable to shareholders

22,864

20,159

+13

(524)

(1,111)

1,006

 

Estimated CCS adjustment for Oil Products and Chemicals (see note 2)

(1,984)

(809)

 

______

______

______

 

 

______

______

 

6,392

7,556

6,948

-8

CCS earnings

20,880

19,350

+8

=====

=====

=====

 

 

=====

=====

 

1.10

1.38

0.93

 

Basic earnings per share ($)

3.64

3.13

 

(0.08)

(0.18)

0.16

 

Estimated CCS adjustment per share ($)

(0.31)

(0.13)

 

______

______

______

 

 

______

______

 

1.02

1.20

1.09

-6

Basic CCS earnings per share ($)

3.33

3.00

+11

=====

=====

=====

 

 

=====

=====

 

0.36

0.36

0.315

 

Dividend per ordinary share ($)2

1.08

0.945

 

1 Q3 on Q3 change

2 From 2007 onwards dividends are declared in US dollars. 2006 dividends were declared in euros and translated, for comparison purposes,

to US dollars (based on the US dollar dividend of American Depositary Receipts in the applicable period converted to ordinary shares).



Key features of the third quarter 2007

  • Third quarter 2007 CCS earnings were $6,392 million or 8% lower than in the same quarter a year ago.
  • Third quarter 2007 reported income was $6,916 million or 16% higher than in the same quarter a year ago.
  • Exploration & Production segment earnings were $3,510 million compared with $3,743 million in the third quarter 2006. Earnings, when compared to the third quarter of 2006, were mainly impacted by lower volumes, higher tax charges and higher costs, reflecting current industry conditions, partly offset by the impact of higher oil prices on revenues.
  • Gas & Power segment earnings were $568 million compared to $781 million a year ago. Earnings, when compared to the third quarter of 2006, reflected lower marketing and trading results and reduced gas-to-liquids (GTL) sales volumes due to a planned shutdown of the Bintulu GTL plant, which were partly offset by higher revenues from increased equity liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales volumes.
  • Oil Products CCS segment earnings were $1,651 million compared to $2,160 million in the third quarter 2006. Earnings, when compared to the third quarter of 2006, were mainly impacted by lower realised refining margins, a lower contribution from trading and higher operating costs, which were partly offset by a gain related to a tax rate change in Germany.
  • Chemicals CCS segment earnings were $360 million compared to $335 million in 2006, mainly reflecting improved margins, which were partly offset by a reduced trading contribution.
  • Cash flow from operating activities was $9.1 billion compared to $10.1 billion in the third quarter 2006. Excluding working capital movements and taxation effects, cash flow from operating activities was $9.8 billion compared to $9.6 billion a year ago (see note 7).
  • Total cash returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases in the third quarter 2007 was $3.7 billion.
  • Capital investment for the third quarter 2007 was $6.8 billion.
  • Return on average capital employed (ROACE), on a reported income basis (see note 3), was 23%.
  • Gearing (see note 5) was 12.1% at the end of the third quarter 2007 versus 13.4% at the end of the third quarter 2006.
  • As from the fourth quarter 2007, the Oil Sands segment information will be reported as a separate Downstream business segment. The Oil Sands segment information is currently reported under the Upstream Exploration & Production segment.



Basic earnings per share (see notes 1, 2 and 8)

QUARTERS

 

NINE MONTHS

Q3

Q2

Q3

 

 

 

 

 

2007

2007

2006

 

 

2007

2006

 

1.10

1.38

0.93

 

Earnings per share ($)

3.64

3.13

 

1.02

1.20

1.09

 

CCS earnings per share ($)

3.33

3.00

 



Diluted earnings per share (see notes 1, 2 and 8)

QUARTERS

 

NINE MONTHS

Q3

Q2

Q3

 

 

 

 

 

2007

2007

2006

 

 

2007

2006

 

1.10

1.38

0.93

 

Earnings per share ($)

3.63

3.12

 

1.02

1.20

1.09

 

CCS earnings per share ($)

3.32

2.99

 

    



Summary segment earnings (see notes 2 and 4)

QUARTERS

$ million

NINE MONTHS

Q3

Q2

Q3

 

 

 

 

 

2007

2007

2006

%1

 

2007

2006

%

 

 

 

 

Segment earnings

 

 

 

3,510

3,301

3,743

 

Exploration & Production

10,319

11,485

 

568

779

781

 

Gas & Power2

2,150

2,054

 

1,651

2,936

2,160

 

Oil Products (CCS basis)

6,075

5,558

 

360

494

335

 

Chemicals (CCS basis)

1,334

822

 

413

177

266

 

Corporate2

1,391

45

 

(110)

(131)

(337)

 

Minority interest

(389)

(614)

 

______

______

______

 

 

______

______

 

6,392

7,556

6,948

-8

CCS earnings

20,880

19,350

+8

=====

=====

=====

 

 

=====

=====

 

1 Q3 on Q3 change

2 As from 2007, the segment Other Industry and Corporate has been renamed as Corporate. Its earnings no longer include the results generated by the Wind and Solar businesses, which were previously reported as part of Other Industry segments, but continue to include some non-material businesses. The Wind and Solar businesses earnings are, as from 2007, reported under the Gas & Power segment. For comparison purposes, the third quarter 2006 and the nine months period of 2006 results were reclassified and are impacted by $(6) million and $(14) million in the Gas & Power segment and by $6 million and $14 million in the Corporate segment, respectively.



Summary segment earnings - continued

Earnings in the third quarter 2007 reflected the following items, which in aggregate amounted to a net income of $265 million (compared to a net charge of $77 million in the third quarter 2006) as summarised in the table below:

  • Exploration & Production earnings included a net income of $130 million. Earnings for the third quarter 2007 included a gain of $143 million related to an impairment reversal and a combined gain of $228 million related to tax impacts and the benefit of a tax rate change in Germany. These gains were partly offset by charges of $93 million related to the mark-to-market valuation impact of certain UK gas contracts, the write-off of exploration costs in Alaska of $77 million and a $71 million charge related to a one-time pension liability impact (see below). Earnings for the third quarter 2006 included a net charge of $163 million reflecting a gain of $147 million related to the mark-to-market valuation of certain UK gas contracts, more than offset by charges of $310 million related to a UK tax increase effective as from January 1, 2006.
  • Gas & Power earnings included a net charge of $4 million, reflecting a gain of $11 million related to a tax rate change in Germany, which was more than offset by charges of $10 million related to a one-time pension liability impact (see below) and $5 million related to the mark-to-market valuation impact of certain gas contracts.
  • Oil Products earnings included a net income of $121 million, reflecting a gain of $149 million related to a tax rate change in Germany, which was partly offset by a charge of $28 million related to a one-time pension liability impact (see below).
  • Chemicals earnings included a net income of $18 million, reflecting a gain of $19 million related to a tax rate change in Germany, which was partly offset by a charge of $1 million related to a one-time pension liability impact (see below).
  • Corporate earnings did not include any identified items for the third quarter 2007. Earnings for the third quarter 2006 included $86 million related to tax credits.


The Shell Group earnings included a combined charge of $110 million related to a one-time impact on past-service pension liabilities due to implementation of a revised structure for certain employees’ remuneration, of which the major elements arose in the Exploration & Production and Oil Products segment earnings.


Summary table:

QUARTERS

$ million

NINE MONTHS

Q3

Q2

Q3

 

 

 

 

 

2007

2007

2006

 

 

2007

2006

 

 

 

 

 

Segment earnings impact of identified items:

 

 

 

130

153

(163)

 

  Exploration & Production

387

254

 

(4)

247

-

 

  Gas & Power

282

-

 

121

205

-

 

  Oil Products (CCS basis)

150

(65)

 

18

-

-

 

  Chemicals (CCS basis)

18

(30)

 

-

55

86

 

  Corporate

459

(314)

 

-

-

-

 

  Minority interest

-

(41)

 

______

______

______

 

 

______

______

 

265

660

(77)

 

CCS earnings impact

1,296

(196)

 

=====

=====

=====

 

 

=====

=====

 


These items generally relate to events with an impact of greater than $50 million on Shell Group earnings and are shown to provide additional insight in the segment earnings, CCS earnings and income attributable to shareholders. Further additional comments are provided in the section ‘Earnings per industry segment’ on page 5 and onwards.



Earnings per industry segment


Upstream

QUARTERS

 

NINE MONTHS

Q3

Q2

Q3

 

 

 

 

 

2007

2007

2006

 

 

2007

2006

 

$/bbl

 

Realised Oil Prices (period average)

 

$/bbl

 

70.74

64.41

65.60

 

WOUSA

63.32

62.35

 

70.34

61.06

62.57

 

USA

60.72

60.77

 

70.69

63.92

65.13

 

Global

62.95

62.15

 

$/thousand scf

 

Realised Gas Prices (period average)

$/thousand scf

6.69

5.95

6.43

 

Europe

6.86

6.72

 

4.07

4.01

4.05

 

WOUSA (including Europe)

4.27

4.35

 

6.53

7.78

7.31

 

USA

7.16

8.04

 

4.57

4.74

4.77

 

Global

4.84

5.09

 

 

 

 

 

Oil and gas marker industry prices (period average)

 

 

 

74.84

68.86

69.63

 

Brent ($/bbl)

67.15

66.97

 

75.24

64.89

70.44

 

WTI ($/bbl)

66.06

68.06

 

6.14

7.56

6.05

 

Henry Hub ($/MMBtu)

6.94

6.80

 

30.68

20.20

33.77

 

UK National Balancing Point (pence/therm)

24.39

45.93

 



Exploration & Production

QUARTERS

$ million

NINE MONTHS

Q3

Q2

Q3

 

 

 

 

 

2007

2007

2006

%1

 

2007

2006

%

3,510

3,301

3,743

-6

Segment earnings 

10,319

11,485

-10

1,874

1,908

2,054

-9

Crude oil production (thousand b/d)

1,914

1,973

-3

7,329

7,367

6,942

+6

Natural gas production available for sale (million scf/d)

7,886

8,365

-6

3,137

3,178

3,251

-4

Barrels of oil equivalent (thousand boe/d)

3,273

3,415

-4

1 Q3 on Q3 change


Third quarter
Exploration & Production segment earnings were $3,510 million compared to $3,743 million a year ago.


Third quarter
Exploration & Production earnings included a net income of $130 million, comprising a gain of $143 million related to an impairment reversal and a combined gain of $228 million related to tax impacts and the benefit of a tax rate change in Germany. These gains were partly offset by charges of $93 million related to the mark-to-market valuation impact of certain UK gas contracts, exploration write-offs in Alaska of $77 million and a $71 million charge related to a one-time pension liability impact. Earnings for the third quarter 2006 included a net charge of $163 million reflecting a gain of $147 million related to the mark-to-market valuation of certain UK gas contracts, more than offset by charges of $310 million related to a UK tax increase effective as from January 1, 2006.


Earnings, when compared to the third quarter 2006, were mainly impacted by lower volumes, higher tax charges and higher costs, reflecting current industry conditions, partly offset by the impact of higher oil prices on revenues. In addition, higher exploration expenses, and lower profits from the Sakhalin project, as a consequence of the partial divestment in the second quarter 2007, impacted earnings when compared to the third quarter 2006.


Liquids realisations were 9% higher than in the third quarter 2006, following marker crudes Brent and WTI which were both up 7%. Gas realisations were 4% lower than a year ago. Outside the USA gas realisations were relatively unchanged whereas in the USA gas realisations decreased by 11%.


Third quarter 2007 production was 3,137 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day compared to 3,251 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day a year ago. Total crude oil production (including oil sands) was down 9% and total natural gas production was up 6% when compared to the third quarter 2006. Third quarter 2007 production was mainly impacted by field decline rates and divested volumes, which were partly offset by new fields production and ramp-up volumes when compared to the same quarter last year.


Production compared to the third quarter 2006 included increased volumes from E8 and B12 (Shell share 50%) in Malaysia, Pohokura (Shell share 48%) in New Zealand, West Salym (Shell share 50%) in Russia, Changbei (Shell share 50%) in China, Erha (Shell share 44%) in Nigeria, Merganser (Shell share 44%) in the UK, Enfield in Australia (Shell share 21%, indirect) and Deimos (Shell share 71.5%) in the USA.



Third quarter portfolio developments:


In Austria, Shell announced that it has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement for the sale of its 25% equity holding in Austrian oil and gas producer, Rohöl-Aufsuchungs AG (RAG) with completion expected late 2007 or early 2008.


In Norway, Shell announced that it has entered into an agreement with E.ON Ruhrgas Norge AS to sell its 28% equity interests in the undeveloped Skarv and Idun fields for $893 million. The sale is subject to the relevant regulatory approval and is expected to be completed by end 2007.


In Russia, Shell and Rosneft Open Joint Stock Company have concluded an agreement on Strategic Cooperation, which provides for a joint implementation of upstream and downstream oil and gas projects both in Russia and elsewhere.


Also in Russia, Shell and JSC Tatneft concluded an agreement for a Strategic Partnership to devise a programme for heavy oil development in Tatarstan as well as other potential joint activities, including the acquisition of new licenses for hydrocarbon exploration in Tatarstan and elsewhere in Russia.


In the United States, Shell announced first production from the Deimos (Shell share 71.5%) discovery in the Gulf of Mexico Mars Basin with a peak production capacity for Phase I of 30 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day.


In Norway, first gas was produced from the Ormen Lange field (Shell share 17%) with a peak production capacity of some 420 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day.



Gas & Power

QUARTERS

$ million

NINE MONTHS

Q3

Q2

Q3

 

 

 

 

 

2007

2007

2006

%1

 

2007

2006

%

568

779

781

-27

Segment earnings2

2,150

2,054

+5

3.29

3.25

2.94

+12

Equity LNG sales volume (million tonnes)

9.84

8.78

+12

1 Q3 on Q3 change

2 As from 2007, the Gas & Power earnings include earnings generated by the Wind and Solar businesses, which were previously reported as part of Other Industry segments. For comparison purposes, the third quarter 2006 and nine months period of 2006 results were reclassified and were impacted by $(6) million and $(14) million respectively.

    


Third quarter
Gas & Power segment earnings were $568 million compared to $781 million a year ago. Third quarter 2007 earnings included a net charge of $4 million, reflecting a gain of $11 million related to a tax rate change in Germany, which was more than offset by charges of $10 million related to a one-time pension liability impact and $5 million related to the mark-to-market valuation impact of certain gas contracts.


Earnings, when compared to the third quarter 2006, reflected lower marketing and trading results and reduced gas-to-liquids (GTL) sales volumes due to a planned shutdown of the Bintulu GTL plant, which were partly offset by higher earnings from increased equity liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales volumes.


LNG equity sales volumes of 3.29 million tonnes were 12% higher than in the same quarter a year ago, driven by additional sales mainly at Nigeria LNG (Shell interest 26%) due to increased feedgas supply.


Marketing and trading earnings benefited from storage optimisation in the third quarter 2007. Earnings, when compared to the same period last year, were lower due to less favourable overall trading conditions in both Europe and North America.



Third quarter portfolio developments:


In Qatar, Shell and Qatar Petroleum announced the formation of Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited (4), a joint venture of Qatar Petroleum (70%) and Shell (30%), which signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Shell as the buyer of all the LNG volumes produced by the joint venture. An agreement was also signed with Qatargas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat), in which Shell was appointed as the shipping and maritime services provider for Nakilat’s fleet of at least 25 newly built liquefied natural gas carriers.


In Australia, the final investment decision was taken by Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (Shell interest 34.27%) for the development of the Pluto LNG project in North-West Australia. The Australian Federal Ministry for the Environment issued government approval for the Pluto project in October.


Shell and Petrochina concluded a binding Heads of Agreement for the supply of 1 million tonnes per annum of LNG, for 20 years, from the Gorgon project in North-West Australia, conditional on a final investment decision being taken by the Gorgon Joint Venture partners. Gorgon received State and Federal environmental approval during the quarter.



Downstream

QUARTERS

 

NINE MONTHS

Q3

Q2

Q3

 

 

 

 

 

2007

2007

2006

 

 

2007

2006

 

$/bbl

 

Refining marker industry gross margins(period average)

$/bbl

 

8.05