Energy firm to return $5bn to shareholders as climate campaigners criticise high profits

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Shell has doubled its profits in the last quarter after the Middle East conflict drove up the price of oil and gas and created shortages in the global market.

Shell reported on Thursday morning that it made an adjusted profit of $10.8bn (£8.1bn) in the July-September quarter, up from $5.432bn in the third quarter of 2025. The results beat analyst expectations for a rise to $10.33bn.

Decision was widely expected after lobbying by Shell but will dismay environmental campaigners

• What does the UK’s approval of the Jackdaw gasfield mean?

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The UK government has approved the controversial Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea, a widely expected move that will nonetheless dismay environmental campaigners and a number of Labour MPs.

While Labour’s 2024 election manifesto committed to a ban on new drilling licences in the North Sea, the companies behind Jackdaw and the Rosebank oilfield project, which is being decided on separately, have sought environmental approval for existing licences.

In a region of Nigeria blighted by decades of pollution, Martha Agbani and her team are not just replanting trees but regaining ownership of their lost lands and livelihoods

A toxic landscape was familiar to Martha Agbani when she was growing up – the smell of crude oil in the air, rivers running black and trees dying on the banks. In Ogoniland, in Nigeria’s oil-exploited Niger delta, Agbani saw the spills rot away the mangrove forests and destroy the livelihoods of communities around her.

Now, she is training women to plant them back – one fragile green shoot at a time.

Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell und Co. melden Rekordergebnisse. Während Klimaschützer von einem Skandal sprechen, will der US-Präsident nur eins: billiges Benzin.

Der britische Energiekonzern profitiert von den hohen Preisen für fossile Brennstoffe und erhöht seine Dividende. Die neue Chefin will unter anderem von der bisherigen Strategie für erneuerbare Energien abrücken.

Britischer Ölkonzern verdient dank hoher Öl- und Gaspreise weiter hervorragend. Shell konzentriert sich nun darauf, seine langfristigen Öl- und Gasreserven auszubauen.

Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as three members of monetary policy committee vote to raise rates

That German GDP reading has indeed contributed to the wider eurozone hitting expectations – and then some.

The eurozone economy grew by 0.4% in the second quarter of 2026, according to the preliminary reading from Eurostat – defying the gloom caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Verdirbt teures Öl den Deutschen den Sommerurlaub? Bei einem Besuch der Raffinerie in Schwedt versucht Wirtschaftsministerin Katherina Reiche, die Sorgen zu zerstreuen.

Shell has made $6.9bn in profits since the Iran war began, cashing in on soaring energy prices. The enormous profits have reignited calls for higher taxes on fossil fuel companies to fund support for those hardest hit by rising costs.

Lucy Hough speaks to energy correspondent Jillian Ambrose.

Der Ölkonzern hat im vergangenen Quartal fast sieben Milliarden Dollar verdient. Damit übertraf Shell die Markterwartungen deutlich.

WPP accused of breaching its climate policy after report reveals firm linked to twice as much oil advertising as US rivals

A British advertising conglomerate has helped the oil companies ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP spend an estimated $1bn (£740m) on adverts in the US since the 2015 Paris agreement to tackle the climate crisis, a report shows.

London-based WPP was the leading advertising group serving the US’s oil industry over the past decade, according to analysis by the climate investigations platform DeSmog. The figure is nearly twice the respective amounts linked to its US rivals Omnicom and Interpublic Group (IPG), which merged in November.

Media tycoon vows to appeal after dismissal of action against Gambling Commission for awarding Allwyn the franchise

The media tycoon Richard Desmond has vowed to appeal after a resounding defeat in his claim for up to £1.3bn in damages from the Gambling Commission over its decision not to award him the 10-year licence to run the national lottery.

Mrs Justice Smith dismissed Desmond’s claim on Friday, in a sometimes scathing written high court judgment that reserved particular criticism for “inexcusable” failings on the part of Desmond’s legal team.

Die Straße von Hormus könnte geöffnet werden – doch die Benzinpreise bleiben hoch, die Kurse der Ölkonzerne auch. Da kommt mancher in Versuchung, sich deren Aktien zu kaufen. Oder doch lieber die Erneuerbaren? Was Sie über die Geldanlage in Energiefirmen wissen müssen.

The era of corporate climate denial is over but in courts around the world the big names have shifted strategy

While the US government continues to call climate change a hoax and attack the science, in courtrooms from The Hague to Honolulu, fossil fuel companies are taking a different approach. Shell, Chevron, RWE and TotalEnergies all accept that climate change is real, human-caused and serious. The era of corporate climate denial, at least in legal proceedings, is largely over.

What has replaced it is a more nuanced position: accepting the science of climate change while contesting their responsibility for it.

Wael Sawan warns of pressure on diesel and petrol if strait of Hormuz does not reopen to oil and gas shipping

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Europe could face a shortage of energy and fuel as soon as next month without a reopening of the strait of Hormuz, Shell’s chief executive has said.

The boss of Europe’s biggest oil company said it was working with governments to help them address the oil and gas supply crisis, which has already led to energy rationing in Asian countries.

BP verkauft eine der größten deutschen Raffinerien an einen US-Investor. Dem gehört schon eine andere Anlage im Land. Die Werke versorgen die Bürger mit Sprit und Heizöl, doch die Geschäfte laufen schlecht.

Energy supply shock from US-Israeli attack on Iran fuels record valuations for Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron

• Beyond the strait: why attacks on Kargh Island could keep oil prices high

Shares in big oil companies have soared to all-time highs since the war in Iran began and sparked historic price rises on global oil and gas markets.

The combined market value of the six stock market-listed western “super majors” has soared by more than $130bn in the two weeks since the first US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

Der Liter Sprit kostet jetzt mehr als zwei Euro. An den Tankstellen rücken die Autofahrer schon mit Kanistern an – und fragen sich: Warum steigen die Preise in Deutschland so viel stärker als anderswo?

Wael Sawan weighs up production project as company boosts dividends despite 22% drop in full-year earnings

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Shell is considering fossil fuel investments in Venezuela worth billions of dollars, according to its chief executive.

Wael Sawan said Europe’s largest oil company is weighing plans for production projects off the Venezuelan coast that could begin yielding gas in the next couple of years. “These are opportunities that could potentially be activated within months,” he told CNBC, adding that the company was now awaiting approvals.