Shell rewards investors as soaring oil and gas prices drive up profits

SHELL was today forced to defend bumper payouts to investors after 2021's blistering rise in natural gas and oil prices helped propel annual profits to a seven-year high.

- Simon Freeman

The energy giant announced a 4% increase in dividends to 25 cents per share and the expansion of its share buyback programme to $8.5 billion as full-year earnings soared four-fold from $4.8 billion to $19.3 billion.

For the fourth quarter, earnings were $11.1 billion compared with a loss of $4.5 billion a year earlier.

CEO Ben van Beurden accepted his company had benefited from “tightness in the market as millions of UK families face a 50% hike in energy bills.

But he rejected calls for the introduction of a one-off windfall tax on energy giants, saying he was not convinced imposing a levy on higher profits would resolve issues of “booming demand and struggling supply.