Royal Dutch Shell posted a 2.6 per cent rise in underlying profits today thanks to higher production and strong oil prices.
Shell said its fourth-quarter current cost of supply (CCS) net profit, which strips out changes in the value of inventory, was $6 billion, helped by profits from selling oil and gas fields.
Excluding non-operating items, the underlying result was $5.5 billion, above an average forecast of $5.216 billion.
The second-largest Western oil major by market value, Shell said fourth-quarter production rose to 3.645 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) from 3.5 million boepd in the same period of 2005.
Shell said the planned sale of a controlling stake in the giant Sakhalin-2 project in Russia to Gazprom would slice 400 million barrels off its reserves base and that this would be reflected in the 2007 reserves figures.
The Anglo-Dutch company said its reserves replacement ratio - the rate at which it matched production with new finds - was 150 per cent in 2006, including oil-sands projects.
However, oil-sands projects are not bookable reserves under rules laid down by US financial regulator, the Securities and Exchanges Commission. Shell did not publish an SEC-based figure, the measure most watched by investors.
