Shell raised its quarterly share buyback to $5B from $3B after posting third-quarter adjusted earnings of $10.8B.
That compares with $5.432B in the third quarter of 2025 and $9.836B in the second quarter of 2026.
Adjusted earnings strip out one-off items and are the company's preferred profit measure, so they aren't the same as statutory profit.
The result beat the $10.33B analysts expected, according to The Guardian.
The new buyback covers the next three months, and Shell kept its dividend unchanged.
Shell Lifted Its Quarterly Buyback From $3B to $5B
Announced quarterly share buyback program, US$ billions, as of Oct. 29, 2026
Bar chart. US$ Billions. Previous: Buyback Program ($B) $3. New: Buyback Program ($B) $5.
Source: Reuters, BOE Report, The Guardian, Bloomberg
Refining margins did the heavy lifting
Shell's global indicative refining margin hit a record $42 a barrel, up from $24 in the second quarter. Our earlier coverage examines the global refining shortage.
The previous record was roughly $28 a barrel, set in the early months of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The chemicals and products division, which houses fuel-making and oil trading, delivered adjusted earnings of $3.9B.
The same unit earned a total of $1.1B across all of 2025, per Bloomberg.
Higher gas prices, including LNG, helped integrated gas produce $3.0B of earnings. Upstream delivered $3.2B but made less than in Q2, with weaker oil prices and larger well write-offs weighing on that business.
Europe's benchmark gas price averaged almost 64 euros per megawatt-hour in the quarter, up from more than 48 euros in the second quarter.
War cuts both ways for Shell
The same conflicts knocking out global fuel-making capacity are also knocking out Shell's own barrels.
Production also suffered: across January through September, Shell pumped 17% less oil and gas than in the corresponding 2025 period, with disrupted Qatari operations accounting for most of the reduction.
An attack damaged a processing train at Qatar’s Pearl facility in March, forcing Shell to suspend gas-to-liquids production there. Repair work may last about a year, the company said.
Liquefaction volumes still rose 12%, helped by the ramp-up at LNG Canada, where Shell and its partners agreed this quarter to double export capacity. For the wider market context, see our coverage of LNG investment themes.
Cash flow from operations reached $21.0B. Excluding working capital, the figure was $21.7B, up from $12.24B a year earlier.
Net debt fell to $39.7B from $41.8B in the second quarter, and gearing stood at 16.6% after the completed purchase of Canadian gas producer ARC Resources.
Shell trimmed its 2026 cash capital expenditure guidance to a range of $23B to $25B, down from $24B to $26B.
It also flagged a non-cash loss of roughly $6.4B in the fourth quarter tied to its Netherlands pension plan, plus a $2B impairment across its European biogas business.
RBC analyst Biraj Borkhataria reckons Shell will still miss its 40% to 50% payout ratio guidance for the year, blaming abnormal macro conditions.
The payout rests on refining margins that nearly quadrupled year over year, a condition created by war.
