AUTONEWS

Shell has a loss of US$24 million in the first quarter

The Royal Dutch Shell group on Thursday announced a net loss of $24 million in the first quarter as a result of the oil crisis.
The Anglo-Dutch company, which posted net profit of $6 billion in the same period in 2019, said in a statement that it expects a difficult second quarter, given the historic drop in oil market prices in the midst of the new coronavirus pandemic.
Like the competing companies, Shell was particularly affected in March by the fall in prices, which continued in April, with the price of the American barrel at a negative price for some days.
The oil market faces a lack of demand due to a standstill in several countries, while storage capacities are approaching the limit.
The group's production fell 1%, to 3.719 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Shell warned that in the second quarter it will reduce or limit oil and gas production, as well as refining and chemical activities, with an expected impact on its financial results.
The move coincides with the promise of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its partners to reduce production by 10 million barrels a day to try to rebalance the market, but analysts believe that this will not be enough.
The group's CEO, Ben van Beurden, cited "extremely difficult conditions" that prompted Shell to take a number of measures.
On Thursday, the company announced the decision to reduce the value of its dividends, given the prospect that prices will remain low for a long period.
This is the first time that Shell has reduced dividends since the 1940s, according to the Financial Times newspaper. AFP