Shell posts $21.68bn loss as pandemic hammers oil demand

Royal Dutch Shell has reported a loss of $21.68 billion for the year 2020 as COVID-19 hammered oil demand, compared with a profit of $15.84 billion a year ago.

The oil giant, in a statement on Thursday, said cash capital expenditure was reduced to $18 billion in 2020, from $24 billion in 2019.

It said its underlying operational expenditure fell to $33 billion in 2020 from $37 billion in 2019.

Shell noted that in January 2021, it completed the sale of its 30 per cent interest in Oil Mining Lease 17 in the Eastern Niger Delta, and associated infrastructure, to TNOG Oil and Gas Limited, a related company of Heirs Holdings Limited and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc.

Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Officer, Ben van Beurden, said, “2020 was an extraordinary year. We have taken tough but decisive actions and demonstrated highly resilient operational delivery while caring for our people, customers and communities.

“We are coming out of 2020 with a stronger balance sheet, ready to accelerate our strategy and make the future of energy. We are committed to our progressive dividend policy and expect to grow our US dollar dividend per share by around four percent as of the first quarter 2021.”