London, Feb 13, 2026, 07:41 GMT — Premarket
Shell on Thursday said it’s weighing options for its India-based renewables arm, Sprng Energy, as CEO Wael Sawan trims the company’s low-carbon ambitions to double down on LNG trading and upstream. The stock (SHEL.L) finished the previous session at 2,888 pence, slipping 0.9%. Back in 2022, Shell snapped up Sprng in a $1.55 billion deal. Sprng runs 2,300 megawatt-peak (MWp) in operating assets and has another 5,026 MWp contracted. BP, a competitor, has pivoted too—last quarter it booked roughly $4 billion in writedowns tied to renewables and biogas.
Timing is key for investors right now, as the macro backdrop grows less accommodating. The International Energy Agency on Thursday trimmed its 2026 oil demand growth forecast to 850,000 barrels per day (bpd), cautioning that supply could outpace demand by 3.73 million bpd—a glut that might linger despite January’s outages. OPEC+ has held off on boosting output during the first quarter, and eight members will gather on March 1 to weigh whether to restart increases come April.
Cash returns remain front and center. Shell’s quarterly share buyback program stays put at $3.5 billion. Chief Financial Officer Sinead Gorman called the 40% to 50% payout range over a year “sacrosanct,” even as buybacks and dividends just took the last four quarters above that target. The company bumped up its quarterly dividend by 4%, now at $0.372 per share. Reuters
Shell carried on with its daily buybacks. According to the company, 1,396,574 shares were purchased for cancellation on Feb. 12, trimming the outstanding share count. The trades took place on the LSE and other European exchanges. Morgan Stanley’s running the program independently, sticking to defined limits, and the buybacks are set to continue until May 1.
Governance issues are swirling around the company. According to the Financial Times, four EY partners exited the firm following independence breaches during Shell’s audit, costing EY a $66 million-a-year contract. Britain’s Financial Reporting Council is already probing EY’s 2024 audit of Shell’s books. After running a tender, Shell tapped PwC to take over as auditor from 2027.
Energy shares are still tracking moves in crude. Brent slipped 0.1% to $67.46 a barrel as of 0448 GMT, giving up ground after dropping 2.7% in the previous session. The market’s backing off as worries about a U.S.-Iran flare-up ease, and oversupply jitters creep back in. IG analyst Tony Sycamore pointed to the retreat, saying it signals Washington wants more time to hammer out a nuclear agreement with Iran, which in turn “reducing the near-term geopolitical risk premium.” Reuters
At the open, traders are set to hash out just what the Sprng review translates to in terms of money and timing. There’s a big difference between a straightforward, high-priced sale and a dragged-out process—or a shakeup that’s mostly cosmetic.
But there’s a clear risk, too. Should crude remain under pressure and traders begin bracing for a glut in oil and LNG, attention swings back to the durability of buybacks — particularly for European majors, where share repurchases have become central to their equity narrative.
Shell is pointing to March 16 for its LNG Outlook release and a “Strategic Spotlight” on its LNG portfolio. After that, first-quarter 2026 results and dividends are slated for May 7, with the annual general meeting set for May 19. Ritzau
