Oil giant Shell's quarterly profit tumbles to its lowest in nearly five years, as crude prices plummet. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea's Shell petrol station, London, England, United Kingdom, on December 25, 2025, reflects the company's financial struggles. British oil major Shell reported a disappointing $3.26 billion in adjusted earnings for the quarter, falling short of analyst expectations of $3.53 billion. This marks Shell's weakest quarterly performance since the first three months of 2021, when adjusted earnings were $3.2 billion. For the full year 2025, Shell's adjusted earnings of $18.5 billion were significantly lower than the previous year's $23.72 billion. Despite these challenges, Shell CEO Wael Sawan expressed optimism, citing strong operational and financial performance. The company announced a 4% dividend increase to $0.372 per share and a $3.5 billion share buyback program, marking 17 consecutive quarters of substantial buybacks. However, the industry's shareholder payouts are at risk due to a challenging market environment and weak earnings season expectations. Norway's Equinor, a state-backed energy company, has already announced cuts to share buybacks and reduced investments in renewables and low-emission energy projects, following a 22% drop in fourth-quarter profit. With Britain's BP and France's TotalEnergies set to report earnings next week, the pressure is on the industry to navigate these turbulent times.
