Article content

Royal Dutch Shell Plc reported its biggest net loss in at least 16 years after Europe’s largest energy group abandoned some projects and lowered its oil-price expectations, resulting in a charge of almost US$8 billion.

The loss highlights the pain oil and gas companies are enduring as prices plunge, forcing them into the biggest belt- tightening in a generation. Eni SpA, the Italian oil group, also fell into a loss in the third quarter, while profit slumped at BP Plc and Total SA.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Shell has biggest loss in more than a decade Back to video

The oil price rout has wiped almost US$500 billion since the end of last year from Bloomberg World Oil & Gas Index, which tracks energy stocks globally including Shell, ExxonMobil Inc and Chevron Corp.

Shell, which is buying BG Group Plc in the energy industry’s largest deal this year, reported a third-quarter net loss of US$7.42 billion, compared with a profit of US$4.46 billion a year earlier. Adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes, profit dropped 70 per cent to US$1.77 billion, The Hague-based Shell said Thursday in a statement. That missed the US$2.92 billion average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.