LONDON, July 3, 2026, 13:16 BST
- Shell traded flat near 2,898p close to midday in London. FTSE 100 slipped 0.15%.
- Shell’s two U.S. sales come to $3.0 billion, matching its newest $3.0 billion buyback.
- Brent traded around $72 with U.S.-Iran peace talks steady; Shell kept its Q2 outlook for weaker LNG and upstream volumes.
Shell plc (LON:SHEL) ticked down 0.05% to 2,898.00p/2,898.50p on a delayed AJ Bell quote around 1300 BST after trades just before 1259 BST. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.15% to 10,636.88 at 1257 BST. Brent crude hovered near $72 a barrel, oil benchmarks touching lows not seen since before the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
The main story isn’t the slight move in the stock. Shell has pushed out $3.0 billion in U.S. asset sales in three days: a $1.3 billion sale of Jiffy Lube International and Premium Velocity Auto just closed, and a $1.7 billion agreement to sell Gulf of America assets to Talos Energy Inc NYSE:TALO and Ridgewood Energy. That lines up with the $3.0 billion buyback Shell revealed after Q1 results, before deal timing and adjustments.
| Market marker | Latest read | Investor read |
|---|---|---|
| Shell London quote | 2,898.00p/2,898.50p, down 0.05% | Stock holds steady, disposal news not moving the price |
| FTSE 100 | 10,636.88, down 0.15% | Shell is a touch stronger than FTSE 100 |
| Brent crude | $71.97, up 0.24% at 0932 GMT | Oil gains, but Shell not seeing much from it |
Shell CEO Wael Sawan described the first quarter as a period of “unprecedented disruption in global energy markets.” He put out a stock buyback alongside a 5% dividend bump to $0.3906. For shareholders, the math is clear: $3.0 billion from asset sales matches the buyback figure, though Shell hasn’t tied the sales directly to funding the buyback. Investegate
| Shell cash and asset marker | Figure | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Jiffy Lube/PVA sale | $1.3 billion | Jiffy Lube was just over 6% of Shell’s U.S. and Canada lubricant sales |
| Gulf of America sale | $1.7 billion | 37,000 boe/d Shell entitlement for 2025 |
| Combined headline consideration | $3.0 billion | Same as Shell’s latest buyback plan |
| 2026 cash capex outlook | $24 billion-$26 billion | Asset sales put at about 12% of midpoint |
Shell’s Gulf asset sale looks small by output, but the $1.7 billion price still counts for the company. Shell said Na Kika and Coulomb pumped 37,000 boe/d in 2025 and don’t figure to add much by 2030. That is roughly 2.2% of Shell’s Q2 upstream volume outlook at the midpoint. The price tag puts the deal at about $46,000 per 2025 flowing boe/d.
Shell is keeping its “focus on sustaining our material liquids production” into the next decade, upstream president Peter Costello said. BP p.l.c. (LON:BP), which operates Na Kika, has a 30-day right of first refusal to pick up Shell’s stake in the platform and fields. Shell
Shell’s outlook for the near term is messier. In May, the company signaled Q2 integrated gas output would fall sharply from Q1, blaming the expected drop on Middle East unrest and scheduled maintenance.
| Operating metric | Q1 2026 actual | Q2 2026 outlook | Midpoint change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Integrated Gas output | 909 kboe/d | 580-640 kboe/d | -33% |
| LNG production | 7.9 million tonnes | 6.8-7.4 million tonnes | -10% |
| Upstream output | 1,843 kboe/d | 1,620-1,820 kboe/d | -7% |
| Marketing volumes | 2,627 kb/d | 2,500-2,700 kb/d | -1% |
Shell integrated gas chief Cederic Cremers said the LNG sector “has proved resilient and able to adapt” following the Hormuz disruption. Shell’s LNG Outlook noted that 2026 LNG trade may look like 2025 if Hormuz shipping gets back to normal later this summer, with growth picking up again in 2027. Shell
Oil isn’t doing much to support shares. Citi said the U.S.-Iran talks are “fragile but continues for now.” PVM’s Tamas Varga said a pickup in crude prices needs stranded oil to return and production flows to change. Reuters said the Brent front-month to six-month spread flipped negative on July 1, a first for 2026. Reuters
Shell plans to post its second-quarter earnings and interim dividend update on July 30 at 0700 BST.
