Oil giant Shell posted $7.7 billion in first-quarter profits, blowing past Wall Street expectations by $1.3 billion, as fuel prices climbed, even though income was off 16% from a year ago.
In April, the average price at the gas pump climbed to about $3.70 per gallon in the U.S., an increase from $3.20 in January. In California, the cost of gas soared as high as $7.29 per gallon.
Analysts from Bank of America have highlighted the current era as a “golden age” for U.S. oil refiners, driven by the advantageous “crack spread” — the gap between the costs of crude oil and the resulting gasoline.
Despite a dip from the historic highs of 2022, which followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the demand for gasoline and jet fuel remains robust.
The company’s chemicals and products division, which includes its refining operations that transform crude oil into fuels, also performed better than expected, posting $1.6 billion in earnings instead of an expected $1.05 billion.
The company also reported a 3% increase in overall oil and gas production during the first quarter, totaling 2.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Correction: A previous version of this article compared Shell’s first-quarter financials to the incorrect quarter.
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