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, located at 106 Old Brompton Road, London, England, United Kingdom, on December 25, 2025, reflects the company's current 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 annual profit of $23.72 billion. Despite the challenging market, 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, net debt increased to $45.7 billion at the end of last year, with gearing at 20.7%. This financial strain is forcing European energy majors to make tough decisions as lower oil prices persist. The industry's shareholder payouts are at risk due to a challenging market environment and weak earnings expectations. Norway's Equinor, for instance, reduced share buybacks to $1.5 billion this year, down from $5 billion last year, while also cutting investments in renewables and low-emission energy projects. Britain's BP and France's TotalEnergies are set to report fourth-quarter earnings next week, adding to the uncertainty in the energy sector.
