Shell's Q3 Profit Doubles to $10.8 Billion Amid Middle East Conflict

Shell reported an adjusted profit of $10.8 billion for the third quarter of 2026, doubling its earnings from the same period in 2025. The result exceeded analyst projections, which had estimated a rise to $10.33 billion, and reflected a sharp increase in profit margins driven by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The surge in earnings followed a period of intense volatility in the energy markets. Earlier this month, the company informed investors that refinery margins were projected to reach $42 per barrel of fuel produced in the July to September period. This figure far exceeds the $24 per barrel margin recorded in the second quarter of this year and surpasses the previous record of approximately $28 per barrel set during the early months of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The rise in commodity prices was fueled by severe damage to refineries in the Middle East and Russia, which created shortages in the global market. As a result, the global oil price benchmark averaged $94.90 per barrel in the third quarter, up from $69.10 per barrel in the same quarter of the previous year. Europe’s benchmark gas price index also climbed, reaching an average of nearly €64 per megawatt-hour in the third quarter, compared to more than €48 in the second quarter.

Despite the higher revenue, the conflict negatively impacted Shell’s gas production. One of the company’s key gas processing facilities in the Gulf suffered severe damage, causing prewar production levels of 900,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to fall by a third. The company stated that its operational performance remained strong despite the continued disruption to the global energy system.

Shell’s chief executive, Wael Sawan, noted that the company’s focus on operational performance enabled these strong results. In response to the higher earnings, Shell increased its share buyback program, planning to return $5 billion to investors over the next three months, an increase from $3 billion in the previous quarter.

The financial performance lifted Shell’s market value, securing its position as the largest company on the UK’s FTSE 100 index. Shares rose 3% in early trading on Thursday after the report, following a record high of more than £40 per share earlier in the month when the global oil price approached $117 per barrel.

Climate groups criticized the earnings jump, arguing that the company was profiting from global instability. Philip Evans, a senior campaigner at Greenpeace, stated that oil executives are celebrating while communities suffer from high costs and extreme weather events linked to fossil fuel use.