text: 28 July 2011 08:26 [Source: ICIS news]
  Correction: In the ICIS news story headlined "Shell’s chemicals earnings in second quarter up 19.4% to $530m" dated 28 July 2011, please read in the first paragraph ... second-quarter earnings from its chemical business... instead of ... first-quarter earnings from its chemical business.... A corrected story follows.
  ?xml:namespace>
  Chemicals sales volumes fell by 13% year on year to 4.55m tonnes in the second quarter of this year, while chemicals manufacturing plant availability fell to 87% compared with 92% in the second quarter of 2010, as a result of increased maintenance activities, the company said in a statement.
  Shell’s cost of current supplies (CCS) earnings from its downstream operations, meanwhile, was up by 28% year on year at $1.88bn, including a net gain of $802m from identified items, it said.
  Taking out the net gain from identified items, the company’s downstream operations posted CCS earnings of $1.08bn in the second quarter, a decrease of 7% year on year, it said.
  “Downstream earnings excluding identified items, compared with the second quarter [of] 2010, reflected higher oil products marketing earnings as well as higher chemicals earnings, offset by lower oil products refining results,” the statement said. Shell’s refinery processing intake fell by 14% to 2.83m bbl/day compared with the second quarter of 2010, mainly as a result of divestments and a refinery closure as well as increased maintenance activities, the company said.
  The company’s overall net profit nearly doubled to $8.66bn in the second quarter from $4.39bn in the corresponding period a year earlier, while CCS earnings excluding identified items were up by 56% year on year to $6.55bn, including a net gain of $1.08bn from downstream operations.
  For the first half of 2011, Shell’s downstream CCS earnings rose by 38% year on year to $3.05bn, including a net gain from identified items of $319m.
  Shell’s net profit for the first six months of 2011 surged by 77% year on year to $17.4bn, while CCS earnings excluding identified items increased by 42% year on year to $12.8bn, including a net gain of $2.73bn from downstream operations.
  ($1 = €0.70)