Shell sees capex at lower end of range; flags impairment charges

Royal Dutch Shell forecast full-year capital expenditure near the lower end of the $24bn-29bn range in 2019 as it also flagged fourth quarter post-tax impairment charges of between $1.7bn and $2.3bn.

The company said integrated gas production was expected to be between 920,000 and 970,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), and upstream production was projected to be around 2.77m - 2.82m boepd.

Forecasts for oil products sales volumes were lowered to 6.5m - 7m boepd against previous estimates of 6.65m - 7.05m.

"Marketing margins are expected to be lower due to seasonal trends, and weaker compared to the fourth quarter 2018 due to crude price movements impacting retail margins," the company said.

An extra $100m - $200m worth of well write-offs were expected compared to the fourth quarter of 2018, however, Shell said no cash impact was anticipated. Provision updates for decommissioning and restoration obligations were also expected to have a negative impact on earnings in the range of $100m - $200m.

Shell added that it expected higher taxes to hit fourth quarter earnings by $500m - $600m.

As of 0825 GMT, Shell shares had slipped 0.71% to 2,253p.

(Writing by Frank Prenesti; Editing by Michele Maatouk)