Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell reported profits more than doubled in the fourth quarter of 2017 on Thursday, supported by a recent rally in oil and gas prices.

Net profit attributable to shareholders on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis, used as a proxy for net profit, and excluding identified items, came in at $4.3 billion, versus $1.8 billion in the same quarter a year ago. This compared to a company-provided analyst consensus of $4.24 billion. It was also slightly above Reuters estimates.

Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said that the Anglo-Dutch firm had posted a "strong financial performance" during "a year of transformation."

"Our relentless focus on value, performance and competitiveness meant we were able to deliver $39 billion of cash flow from operations excluding working capital movements from our upgraded portfolio," he said in the earnings statement.



Shell's full-year net profit, attributable to shareholders on a CCS basis and excluding one-off items, came in at $15.8 billion in 2017 — an increase of 119 percent from the year earlier.



The oil major also reported a sharp rise in cash flow last year, after years of costs cuts and the acquisition of BG Group in 2016 came to fruition.