Royal Dutch Shell, on Wednesday, May 4, announced a $4billion or 83 percent drop in its earnings for the first three months of 2016.
The results were the first Shell has posted since its acquisition of BG Group in February 2016, however, it said the impact of the acquisition on the result was immaterial.
Shell’s earnings on a current cost of supplies (CCS) dropped by $4 billion to $800 million down from $4.8 billion in the first quarter of 2015.
CCS is a number similar to the net income that U.S. oil companies report.
Shell said in the results posted on its website that earnings attributable to shareholders excluding identified items which decreased by 58 percent were impacted by the decline in oil, gas and LNG prices and weaker refining industry conditions.
“We continue to reduce our spending levels, to capture cost opportunities and manage the financial framework in today’s lower oil price environment,” Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said in the earnings report.
