據路透社7月30日倫敦報道，荷蘭皇家殼牌公司在其貿易業務的幫助下避免了近期歷史上的首次季度虧損，但宣布了近170億美元的減值費用，反映出其降低了短期油氣價格前景。

殼牌上個月曾警告稱，在冠狀病毒危機沖擊能源需求并削弱前景后，殼牌將削減其至多220億美元的石油和天然氣資產價值。

“殼牌在極具挑戰性的環境中實現了彈性的現金流，”首席執行官Ben van Beurden周四在一份聲明中表示。

不過，公司警告說，第三季度疫情將繼續影響石油和天然氣價格和銷售。

為了應對疫情，殼牌自二戰以來首次削減了股息，并將今年的支出計劃削減了50億美元，最高可達200億美元。

限制病毒傳播的行動限制打擊了能源需求，基準布倫特原油價格第二季度跌至每桶30美元以下，較上年同期下跌逾一半。

第二季經調整后的盈利(不包括特殊項目，并根據供應成本進行了調整)從上年同期的35億美元降至6億美元，超過分析師預估的6.74億美元虧損。

殼牌表示，盈利“反映出原油和石油產品交易、優化以及運營支出下降的強勁貢獻”。

盡管煉油廠原油加工率下降了四分之一，但煉油和交易業務盈利飆升至15億美元，比上年同期增長近30倍。

殼牌是全球最大的零售商，擁有4萬多個加油站，該公司表示，其燃油銷量也下降了39%。

沈韓曄 摘譯自 路透社

原文如下：

Shell avoids loss with strong trading, takes $16.8 bln impairment

Royal Dutch Shell avoided its first quarterly loss in recent history helped by its trading business but announced nearly $17 billion in impairment charges reflecting its lowered short-term oil and gas price outlook.

Shell had warned last month it was set to slash the value of its oil and gas assets by up to $22 billion after the coronavirus crisis hit energy demand and weakened the outlook.

"Shell has delivered resilient cash flow in a remarkably challenging environment," CEO Ben van Beurden said in a statement on Thursday.

The Anglo-Dutch company however warned of the continued impact of the pandemic on oil and natural gas prices and sales in the third quarter.

Shell has responded to the pandemic by cutting its dividend for the first time since World War Two and slashing planned spending by $5 billion to a maximum of $20 billion this year.

Movement restrictions to limit the spread of the virus have knocked energy demand with benchmark Brent oil prices falling below $30 a barrel in the second quarter, down by more than half from a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings in the second quarter, which exclude special items and are adjusted to cost of supply, fell to $600 million from $3.5 billion a year ago, beating analysts forecasts of a $674 million loss.

The earnings "reflected very strong contributions from crude and oil products trading and optimisation as well as lower operating expenses," Shell said.

Refining and trading operations earnings jumped to $1.5 billion, nearly 30 times higher than a year earlier, even as refinery crude oil processing rates fell by a quarter.

Shell, the world's largest retailer with over 40,000 petrol stations, also saw a 39 per cent drop in fuel sales, it said.