Shell said its third-quarter refining-margin marker is expected at $42 a barrel, up from $24 in the second quarter and above the 2022 record, as Middle East fuel markets stay tight.
Shell said on Wednesday that its refining-margin marker is forecast at $42 a barrel for the third quarter, compared with $24 a barrel in the second quarter, Dow Jones reported. The company said the previous record was $28.04 a barrel, set shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
A Reuters account of the same update said the jump reflects tighter fuel supply after the conflict in the Middle East. Brent rose after the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February, and Tehran then restricted the Strait of Hormuz and struck Gulf neighbours, that account said.
Dow Jones said several large refineries that produce jet fuel and diesel have been damaged and will take time to repair. It also said the average US diesel price on Wednesday was $6.31 a gallon, against $3.68 a year earlier.
Shell raised its third-quarter integrated-gas production forecast to 740,000–780,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, from an earlier 570,000–630,000, a Reuters rewrite reported. Output was 631,000 in the second quarter, versus more than 900,000 before the Iran war. Trading results in gas and oil products are expected to be in line with the prior quarter.
The figures are a company forecast in a trading update, not published quarterly results. The Group of Seven last week agreed to release diesel and crude from emergency stocks, Reuters noted.