Shell Records 22.94 Billion Dollars in Profits in 2005

Shell records 22.94 billion dollars in profits in 2005

LONDON, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) — Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has announced the highest profits in Britain’s corporate history last year of 22.94 billion dollars.

The record annual profit, which was broken down by Sky news on Thursday to an equivalent of 1.5 million pounds (about 2.65 million dollars) an hour, increased by one-third from 2004, when the cost of crude jumped from below 45 dollars a barrel to a record high of more than 70 dollars.

Most of the Anglo-Dutch energy giant’s profits come from extracting oil and gas out of the ground.

The profits were boosted by the soaring crude oil prices as a result of high world demand and political tensions in some oil- producing countries.