Shell, Exxon Profits Drop as Recession Saps Fuel Use

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s biggest oil companies, posted their lowest third-quarter profits in six years after the recession eroded energy demand, pulling down fuel prices.

Net income at Shell declined 62 percent to $3.25 billion from $8.45 billion a year earlier, The Hague-based company said today in a statement. Exxon Mobil, based in Irving, Texas, said its profit dropped 68 percent to $4.73 billion. Exxon Mobil’s per-share profit was 98 cents, 4 cents below the average of 15 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Oil futures slid almost $50 a barrel from their year- earlier average and natural gas tumbled to a seven-year low. Exxon Mobil’s U.S. refineries lost about $2.3 million a day as gasoline and diesel prices fell. Shell, whose refining earnings fell 47 percent, said slumping demand will keep profit margins narrow in “the short and medium term.”

Read Full Article from Bloomberg

- Posted: 2009-10-29 10:33:26

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