Welcome to Shell's
2023 first quarter results presentation.
Despite a less favourable macro environment
than last quarter, we delivered another set of strong results.
Our performance was due to our well-positioned, resilient
portfolio and improved operational delivery.
Our Adjusted Earnings were $9.6 billion
and our Adjusted EBITDA was $21.4 billion,
exceeding last quarter's Adjusted EBITDA.
And we delivered $14.2 billion of cash flow
from operations.
Our Integrated Gas business performed very well, with improved utilisation
robust performance in Australia, continued excellent operational performance
at Pearl GTL and strong trading and optimisation results.
We also played an important role in securing gas supplies for Europe
this past winter by storing 50% more gas than the previous year.
Moving to our Upstream, in our Deep Water business, our assets in the Gulf of Mexico
improved controllable availability equalling our best performance in a decade.
And in Chemicals & Products,
we also saw improved
refinery utilisation, and by safely delaying a turnaround for Norco,
our Energy and Chemicals park in Louisiana,
we were able to maximise returns.
Our total underlying operating expenses
showed an improvement of $1.7 billion
compared with Q4, which is typically higher than Q1.
Moving to our financial framework
we continue to make good progress.
We are announcing a new round of share buybacks of some $4 billion for Q2,
which would bring our expected shareholder distributions for the first half
of the year to around $12 billion.
This demonstrates our commitment to generating attractive shareholder returns.
However, we also continue to make disciplined investments
to high-grade our portfolio.
A great example of this is Vito, our newest offshore
platform in the Gulf of Mexico, which has started production.
Vito has an estimated
peak production of 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.
Changes to the original design created a reduction of approximately 80%
in CO₂ emissions over the lifetime of the facility.
This rework also brought about a cost reduction
of more than 70% from the original host concept.
Projects like Vito serve as a blueprint for other projects,
allowing us to generate greater value from the Gulf of Mexico.
Also in the Gulf of Mexico, we took a final investment
decision for Dover, a project that will allow us
to bring on new production through our existing Appomattox platform.
And in the UK, we have restarted operations at our Pierce Field
following a significant upgrade to allow gas to be produced.
Peak production is now expected to reach more than twice
what it was before the redevelopment, bringing much needed gas to the UK.
We also continue to make progress in building our low-carbon portfolio.
We completed the acquisition of Nature Energy,
Europe's largest producer of renewable natural gas, complementing our US position.
And we also completed the acquisition of Volta,
which means we now own and operate one of the largest public
charging networks for electric vehicles in the US.
As part of our focus on delivering more value from the portfolio,
we divested three non-core upstream positions.
Two of them are in Malaysia's Baram Delta
and the other is Aera Energy in California.
In summary, we delivered strong results, significant shareholder returns
and continued to high-grade the portfolio whilst navigating a volatile market.
Lastly, there are two important upcoming events:
Our Annual General Meeting on May 23rd where we ask you to support the progress
we have made against our energy transition targets
by voting for our energy Transition Progress Report.
And please also
join Wael, myself and several of the senior
leadership team for our Capital Markets Day in New York on June 14th
when we intend to share more on how we are driving value through improved
operational performance and disciplined
portfolio management to deliver attractive shareholder returns.
Thank you.