Quarterly Results

SHELL PLC

FIRST QUARTER 2026 RESULTS

SINEAD GORMAN, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF SHELL PLC

Welcome to Shell's first quarter 2026 results presentation.

I'm pleased that, amid heightened volatility this quarter, we delivered strong results through our relentless focus on operational performance and the strength of our integrated global portfolio. Yet again, our staff rose to the challenge and were able to deliver this safely and effectively, navigating another quarter of uncertainty.

Let me first take you through our Q1 results before I come back to the impact of the Middle East conflict in more detail.

We delivered a strong set of results with Adjusted Earnings for the quarter of just under $7 billion. And we generated over $17 billion of cash flow from operations, excluding working capital. Our working capital outflow for the quarter was some $11 billion, reflecting the impact of higher commodity prices on inventory and receivables. We would expect a significant amount of this outflow to reverse over time.

Now turning to our businesses in more detail.

In Upstream, we delivered strong operational performance across the board. For example, in Brazil, we achieved record production levels. In Nigeria, at Bonga, we completed a turnaround 10 days ahead of plan. And in the United States, our Mars platform became the first asset in the Gulf of America to reach one billion barrels of oil production.

In Integrated Gas, the continued ramp-up of LNG Canada helped to offset the impact of cyclones in Australia and the shutdown of production in Qatar. LNG trading and optimisation results were broadly in line with the previous quarter, reflecting price lags in our term contracts.

Chemical margins remained depressed, but the team remains focused on making the business free cash flow positive and we are seeing some encouraging signs. In Products, the results were driven by impressive refining performance — with utilisation of 99% — and by significantly higher trading and optimisation contributions.

Marketing also had another great quarter, despite the pressure of higher feedstock prices in March. Lubricants sales were seasonally higher, whilst overall segment results were also helped by our ability to optimise product flows across the different marketing businesses.

Overall, this was a strong set of results in a period of volatility and uncertainty stemming from the conflict in the Middle East. While the Middle East is home to around one-fifth of Shell’s hydrocarbon production, impacts have varied by country. Our heartland position in Oman accounts for around 10% of our global volumes — volumes that don’t pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

The most significant effects for Shell have been in Qatar. At Pearl GTL, Train Two was damaged, but thankfully nobody was hurt. We currently estimate it will take around a year to return this train back into service. The repair costs are expected to be well below half a billion dollars, on current estimates. And Pearl GTL Train One as well as  the LNG train in which we hold an interest through the QatarEnergies LNG N4 JV are start-up ready, subject to our ability to move products through the Strait of Hormuz.

Whilst much of the organisation has been focused on  delivering despite the impact of the Middle East conflict, we have also been able to make important progress on our portfolio, in line with our strategy. In Lubricants, we announced the divestment of our Jiffy Lubes network for $1.3 billion, monetising an asset that was not core to our business. In Upstream and Integrated Gas, we added new acreage in the United States, Kazakhstan and Venezuela as we continue to focus on resource longevity. And last week, we announced the strategically important acquisition of ARC Resources. ARC is a high-quality, low-cost operator in Canada's Montney basin, complementing our existing positions at Groundbirch and Gold Creek. With this combination, we are  adding highly contiguous acreage, as well as long-duration, top-quartile low-carbon-intensity production. ARC provides us with new growth opportunities, a liquids-rich portfolio, and LNG upside. This deal accelerates our strategy — sustaining material liquids production, growing our Integrated Gas business, extending reserve life and increasing our expected compound annual production growth rate to 2030 from around 1% to 4%, compared to 2025. And importantly, this transaction meets our high bar for M&A — with long-term value creation through double-digit returns and an increase in our long-term free cash flow, all whilst preserving our balance sheet strength given the 75% share, 25% cash ratio of the deal.

With the ARC acquisition, cash capex for the full year 2026 is expected to be between 24 and 26 billion dollars, including some $4 billion for the ARC acquisition. For 2027 and 2028, cash capex remains at 20 to 22 billion dollars, as we will absorb ARC's ongoing cash capex into our existing guidance.

Moving to the rest of our financial framework. At the end of Q1, our net debt position was $52.6 billion, reflecting the working capital outflows I mentioned earlier, as well as the impact of some non-cash variable shipping lease components. Excluding leases, our net debt was some $22 billion. Our balance sheet is strong, with the flexibility we need to operate in today's volatile environment.

Turning to our shareholder distributions. Today we are rebalancing our shareholder distributions by announcing a $3 billion share buyback programme for the next 3 months as well as a 5% increase of our dividend. This is inline with our existing 40 to 50% of CFFO through the cycle distribution policy, which remains sacrosanct, and shows our dynamic approach to capital allocation.

So, to conclude: Q1 showed Shell's resilience and ability to deliver strong results in a volatile macro environment. These results reflect the strength of our integrated business model and reinforce the importance of our ongoing efforts to simplify the organisation, high-grade our portfolio and build a stronger Shell for the long term.

Our Annual General Meeting 2026 will be on May 19th, and we ask our shareholders to vote against the alternative resolution. By doing so, our shareholders will be endorsing this management team, and our Board. And I hope you've had a chance to see our LNG Strategic Spotlight, which sets out both the growth we see in global LNG demand and how we plan to meet it. As always, our AGM provides an opportunity for our shareholders to engage directly on our progress in delivering more value with less emissions.

Thank you.

 

Shell plc

May 07, 2026

www.shell.com/investors

 

 

DEFINITIONS AND CAUTIONARY NOTE

The companies in which Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this presentation “Shell”, “Shell Group” and “Group” are sometimes used for convenience to reference Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or entities. “Subsidiaries”, “Shell subsidiaries” and “Shell companies” as used in this presentation refer to entities over which Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. The terms “joint venture”, “joint operations”, “joint arrangements”, and “associates” may also be used to refer to a commercial arrangement in which Shell has a direct or indirect ownership interest with one or more parties. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in an entity or unincorporated joint arrangement, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

This presentation contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Shell to market risks and statements expressing management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as “aim”; “ambition”; ‘‘anticipate’’; “aspire”, “aspiration”, ‘‘believe’’; “commit”; “commitment”; ‘‘could’’; “desire”; ‘‘estimate’’; ‘‘expect’’; ‘‘goals’’; ‘‘intend’’; ‘‘may’’; “milestones”; ‘‘objectives’’; ‘‘outlook’’; ‘‘plan’’; ‘‘probably’’; ‘‘project’’; ‘‘risks’’; “schedule”; ‘‘seek’’; ‘‘should’’; ‘‘target’’; “vision”; ‘‘will’’; “would” and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this presentation, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell’s products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks, including climate change; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, judicial, fiscal and regulatory developments including tariffs and regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; (m) risks associated with the impact of pandemics, regional conflicts, such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the conflict in the Middle East, and a significant cyber security, data privacy or IT incident; (n) the pace of the energy transition; and (o) changes in trading conditions. No assurance is provided that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All forward-looking statements contained in this presentation are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Shell plc’s Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2025 (available at www.shell.com/investors/news-and-filings/sec-filings.html and www.sec.gov

). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this presentation and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this presentation, May 7, 2026. Neither Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this presentation.

Also, in this presentation we may refer to Shell’s “net carbon intensity” (NCI), which includes Shell’s carbon emissions from the production of our energy products, our suppliers’ carbon emissions in supplying energy for that production and our customers’ carbon emissions associated with their use of the energy products we sell. Shell’s NCI also includes the emissions associated with the production and use of energy products produced by others which Shell purchases for resale. Shell only controls its own emissions. The use of the terms Shell’s “net carbon intensity” or NCI is for convenience only and not intended to suggest these emissions are those of Shell plc or its subsidiaries.

Shell’s operating plan and outlook are forecasted for a three-year period and ten-year period, respectively, and are updated every year. They reflect the current economic environment and what we can reasonably expect to see over the next three and ten years. Accordingly, the outlook reflects our combined Scope 1 and 2 target, NCI target and our oil products ambition over the next ten years. However, Shell’s operating plan and outlook cannot reflect our 2050 net-zero emissions target, as this target is outside our planning period. Such future operating plans and outlooks could include changes to our portfolio, efficiency improvements and the use of carbon capture and storage and carbon credits. In the future, as society moves towards net-zero emissions, we expect Shell’s operating plans and outlooks to reflect this movement. However, if society is not net zero in 2050, as of today, there would be significant risk that Shell may not meet this target.

This presentation may contain certain forward-looking non-GAAP measures such as free cash flow and underlying operating expenses. We are unable to provide a reconciliation of these forward-looking non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures because certain information needed to reconcile those non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures is dependent on future events some of which are outside the control of Shell, such as oil and gas prices, interest rates and exchange rates. Moreover, estimating such GAAP measures with the required precision necessary to provide a meaningful reconciliation is extremely difficult and could not be accomplished without unreasonable effort. Non-GAAP measures in respect of future periods which cannot be reconciled to the most comparable GAAP financial measure are calculated in a manner which is consistent with the accounting policies applied in Shell plc’s consolidated financial statements.

The contents of websites referred to in this presentation do not form part of this presentation.

We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this presentation that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov

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