The British energy giant Shell reported robust profits following the surge in oil prices prompted by the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.
The company, based in London, said Thursday that its adjusted profit soared 24 percent, to $6.92 billion, in the first three months of the year from the same time last year, higher than analysts expected. Shell’s first-quarter profit was more than twice what the company earned in the previous quarter, a time of seasonally lower activity.
The strong financial turnout came amid an “unprecedented disruption in global energy markets,” the company’s chief executive, Wael Sawan, said in a statement.
On Thursday, the price of Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, hovered just below $100 a barrel, an increase of about 37 percent since the war began on Feb. 28. Oil prices briefly traded above $126 a barrel last week.
The oil shock has pushed up energy costs through higher prices for products like diesel and jet fuel, prompting airlines to cut flights and reduce snack services. Americans, spending more for gasoline and airfares, are rethinking their summer travel plans.
Shell is not the only major European oil producer to report increased profits. In April, Britain’s BP said it more than doubled its profit in the first quarter, to $3.2 billion, from the previous quarter, driven by superior oil trading and elevated oil prices. And the French oil company TotalEnergies, which reported quarterly net income of $5.4 billion, said it would raise its dividend and double its share buybacks.
The strong returns have renewed calls for a windfall tax on oil profits, similar to the response when oil companies benefited from higher energy prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
On Friday, Exxon Mobil reported $4.2 billion in first-quarter earnings, down 46 percent from a year earlier primarily because of accounting reason, while Chevron said that its quarterly profit slid to $2.2 billion, a 37 percent drop from a year earlier. Both companies attributed the decline to paper losses that would be unwound in the coming months. Unlike Shell’s results, these were not adjusted for one-off items.
Exxon and Chevron, the two largest American oil producers, said on Friday that they are not planning to further increase oil drilling to take advantage of higher gas prices.
The war in Iran has upended the global outlook for the industry. Oil reserves are being tapped to help ease supply disruptions, according to a report last month from the International Energy Agency, which lowered its forecast for oil demand for 2026.
Even if the Strait of Hormuz were to reopen soon, the pressure on supply would continue. “Energy markets and economies around the world need to brace for significant disruptions in the months to come,” the agency said.
Rebecca F. Elliott contributed reporting from New York.
