Oil giant Shell's quarterly profit tumbles to its lowest in nearly five years, as crude prices slide. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea's Shell petrol station, London, England, United Kingdom, on December 25, 2025, reflects the company's current financial situation. 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 result 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 also lower than the previous year's $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, the results come at a time when lower oil prices are forcing European energy majors to make tough choices. The industry's shareholder payouts are at risk due to a challenging market environment and weak earnings expectations. Norway's Equinor, for instance, has already announced significant cuts to share buybacks, reducing them to $1.5 billion this year. Britain's BP and France's TotalEnergies are set to report fourth-quarter earnings next week, adding to the uncertainty in the energy sector.
