Shell dived into a $7.416-billion third-quarter net loss on huge write-downs after scrapping costly projects in Alaska and Canada, and on slumping oil prices, it said Thursday.
The quarterly loss after taxation — equivalent to 6.720 billion euros — in the three months to September contrasted with a net profit of $4.463 billion in the same period of 2014, Royal Dutch Shell said in a statement.
The Anglo-Dutch energy giant took a net charge of $8.218 billion that was “mainly related to management decisions to halt longer-term projects and a downward revision to the oil and gas price outlook”.
Shell had announced Tuesday it would halt construction of its Carmon Creek thermal oil sands venture in Canada due to “uncertainties” facing the project, including a lack of infrastructure.
The cancellation of the 80,000 barrel per day Carmon Creek project came after the Anglo-Dutch oil major halted its search for oil off the Alaskan coast last month at a cost of several billion dollars.
Shell revealed Thursday that it took a $2.584-billion charge for Alaska, and a $2.032-billion hit for Carmon Creek.
It also took impairment charges totalling $3.689 billion that were triggered by the “downward revision of the long-term oil and gas price outlook”.
That included $2.312 billion of charges linked to North American shale gas activities.