Energy giant Shell has reported adjusted earnings of $5.6bn in Q1 2025, down from $7.7bn a year earlier.
Despite the drop, also down on the $3.7bn earnings recorded in Q4, analysts said the result beat expectations and the market warmed to another $3.5bn share buyback programme for the next three months. It is the 14th consecutive quarter of at least $3bn in buybacks by Shell.
Source: Shell
CEO Wael Sawan said the company strengthened its LNG business by completing the acquisition of Singapore-based Pavilion Energy, which operates a global LNG trading business with contracted supply volume of approximately 6.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). Shell believes the purchase will spur LNG sales by 4% to 5% per year to 2030.
While LNG liquefaction volumes dropped from 7.1MT in Q4 to 6.6MT in Q1, LNG sales volumes rose from 15.5MT to 16.5MT. LNG liquefaction volumes are expected to be 6.3 to 6.8MT in the second quarter.
In its startup pipeline for 2025–2026 is LNG Canada TI-2, where Shell retains a 40% share and is targeting 14 mtpa peak production, and QatarEnergy LNG NFE [2], with 8 mtpa peak capacity.
Source: Shell
The one blackspot was that “most renewables were loss-making in the first quarter”, reflecting ongoing challenges in the new technologies sector. It is a reality has seen rival BP, initially among the front runners of the energy majors in renewables development, reset recently back towards oil and gas.
Shell’s strategy is to “profitably transition” to Net Zero by 2050, targeting ‘near zero’ methane emissions intensity by 2030 and aiming to reduce net carbon intensity of all its products by 15-20% by the same year.
New LNG supply will be limited until the second half of 2025 with Europe’s need to refill gas storage competing with Asian demand, according to Shell’s annual LNG Outlook report.
Global LNG supply growth is coming, but the timing remains uncertain due to geopolitical tensions, regulatory hurdles, start-up risks, civil unrest, labour shortages and supply chain bottlenecks.
