(MENAFN) Royal Dutch Shell Plc announced that its net income went up 3 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous year, reaching USD6.7 billion, reported Bloomberg.
The biggest energy firm in Europe said that excluding one-time items and inventory changes, profit stood at USD5.6 billion, from USD4.8 billion.
In 2012, Shell started to sell more gas than oil for the first time, as the gap between oil and gas prices expands.
In 2012, Brent crude prices reached their highest levels ever, with an average of 111.68 per barrel, while the average cost of New York-traded West Texas Intermediate fell to USD94.15 per barrel from USD95.11, and US natural gas prices went down to USD2.83 per unit, the lowest since 1999.
The Anglo-Dutch firm is developing its liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in Asia, as demand for energy is growing; furthermore, it increased output at its USD19 billion Pearl gas-to-liquids plant in Qatar.
It is worth noting that in September, Shell acquired liquids-rich acreage in Texas from Chesapeake Energy Corp. for USD1.9 billion.
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