London, July 1, 2026, 15:01 BST
- Shell’s London shares traded at 2,884.50 pence on the company’s share-price page as of 13:17 GMT. Hargreaves Lansdown quoted a 2,879.50/2,880.00p bid-offer, off 1.81%.
- Shell’s $1.7 billion Gulf of America sale works out to about $46,000 per flowing barrel of oil equivalent per day, based on Shell’s 2025 production estimate for the assets.
- The sale cash makes up around 57% of Shell’s $3 billion buyback, which is on hold until the market closes on July 14.
- Shell said in its new LNG outlook that LNG trade could stay flat in 2026 if Hormuz traffic gets back to normal this summer. Disruption had already cut about a fifth of global monthly LNG supply.
Shell Plc (LON:SHEL) slipped in London on Wednesday. A $1.7 billion asset sale did bring some cash news, but it didn’t offset the drag from a buyback pause and softer crude. Shell’s page showed shares at 2,884.50 pence at 13:17 GMT; Hargreaves Lansdown quoted 2,879.50/2,880.00p, off 53p, or 1.81%. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.29% to 10,466.74, AJ Bell data showed. London’s session was running, with the market open from 0800 to 1630 local time.
The key number here is what Shell is getting for older Gulf oil. Shell is selling its 50% non-operated in Na Kika and the full Coulomb tieback to Talos Energy Inc (NYSE:TALO) and Ridgewood Energy for $1.7 billion, subject to adjustments and contingent payouts. Shell says these assets put out 37,000 barrels a day in 2025, but won’t move the needle for output by 2030.
| Shell Gulf asset sale metric | Figure | Investor read-through |
|---|---|---|
| Total consideration | $1.7 billion | Cash works out to roughly 57% of the $3 billion buyback on hold |
| 2025 Shell entitlement production | 37,000 boe/d | Comes to about $46,000 per flowing barrel |
| Shell proved reserves disclosed for Na Kika and Coulomb | 11.5 million boe | Puts the price near $148 per proved barrel, pre-adjustment |
| Expected close | End-2026 | Payout timing still needs approvals |
Shell Upstream President Peter Costello called the Gulf of America “one of our highest-value basins” and said Shell is sticking with “sustaining our material liquids production into the next decade.” Shell keeps some upside, including payments tied to performance until 2027, extra royalty stakes from new Na Kika tiebacks, and offtake rights. BP Plc (LON:BP), which operates Na Kika, owns the other 50% and has a 30-day preferential right to buy. Shell
Talos said its portion of the deal comes to $850 million. The company expects final net cash consideration near $450 million to $500 million, counting interim cash flow from July 1, 2025, but not including a $42.5 million deposit. The assets Talos is acquiring pumped about 16,000 boe a day in Q1 2026, mostly oil at 77%. Talos said the deal adds about 23 million boe of proved reserves and another 10 million boe of probable reserves.
| Buyer-side metric from Talos | Figure | Implied range |
|---|---|---|
| Talos headline price share | $850 million | Roughly $53,000 per Q1 flowing boe/d |
| Talos projected final net cash out | $450 million-$500 million | About $28,000-$31,000 for every Q1 flowing boe/d |
| Proved barrels Talos gets | 23 million boe | $37/boe on the headline, closer to $20-$22/boe on expected net cash |
| Probable barrels to Talos | 10 million boe | This is extra, not included in proved math |
Talos CEO Paul Goodfellow called the deal “highly accretive” and said it brings “Infrastructure-Led Exploration opportunities.” CFO Zach Dailey said the transaction should add value and keep the balance sheet strong. Lenders agreed to raise Talos’s borrowing base to $850 million from $700 million once the deal is complete. PR Newswire
Shell investors focused on capital return coverage see the company pausing its $3 billion buyback from June 12 to the end of trading July 14. The halt is tied to securities-law issues tied to Shell’s planned $16.4 billion deal for ARC Resources Ltd (TSE:ARX) and ARC’s shareholder vote. Shell said it plans to roll the skipped buybacks for that pause into its remaining 2026 buyback programmes if the board gives the green light.
The sale came as oil traded lower. Brent crude dropped roughly 95 cents to $72.00 a barrel on Wednesday, with U.S.-Iran talks easing some supply fears, according to Reuters. That hits Shell as its asset sale price is locked, but upstream profits and demand for oil stocks still track the price of crude.
Shell’s main strategic update was in LNG, not Na Kika. In its LNG Outlook 2026, Shell said yearly global LNG demand could hit close to 700 million tonnes by 2050, which is around 65% higher than 2025. The company put 2025 LNG trade at 422 million tonnes. For 2026, Shell sees trade holding near last year’s level if Strait of Hormuz shipping normalizes this summer.
Shell president of Integrated Gas Cederic Cremers called the conflict “a system-wide shock,” and said there needs to be more investment in supply and demand infrastructure. Shell expects roughly 180 million tonnes of new LNG supply a year to hit the market by 2030, but says another 200 million tonnes a year will still be needed on top of projects already being built. Shell
