The share price of UK-based energy major Shell received a modest boost on news that it believes it has produced more natural gas than expected in the first quarter of the year.
Compared to producing an average 917,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) during the last quarter of 2022, Shell’s first quarter 2023 update note indicates that it expects its integrated natural gas business to have produced between 930,000 and 970,000 boed in the first three months of this year. Shares in the company rose by 1.8% following the news.
The note also indicates that the company’s production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) increased from 6.8 million tonnes to 7.0–7.4 million tonnes, with a comment saying:
“Increased volumes due to higher uptime at Prelude and QGC in Australia”
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, some pipelines supplying Russian gas have been shut down or even blown up, meaning that LNG has become critical to meeting Europe’s demand for gas until pipelines to other suppliers can be built. Shell is a big player in the LNG market, with it having around 11% of the world’s LNG tankers. It also participated in building the first commercial plant for liquefying natural gas.
In addition to being a broad-based energy producer, Shell is also of course the maker of many automotive and industrial lubricants, such as the Shell Spirax axel and transmission oils. If you’re interested in purchasing any Shell products, get in touch with our expert team here at TrAchem.
