LONDON (Reuters) – Shell said on Thursday that its third-quarter profits will be weakened by a sharp drop in refining margins and “significantly” weaker earnings from natural gas trading.
Indicative refining margins dropped to $15 a barrel in the quarter compared with $28 a barrel in the previous three months, Shell said in an update ahead of its results on Oct. 27.
Indicative margins for chemicals dropped to negative $27 per tonne versus a positive $86 in the second quarter amid a slump in demand for plastics.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso; editing by Jason Neely)