Shell reports 15% rise in Q2 earnings 

(MENAFN) Royal Dutch Shell announced that its net income rose by 15 percent in the second quarter to $4.39 billion, up from $3.82 billion a year earlier, thanks to higher oil prices and production, Reuters reported.

Shell, which has been adding more gas than oil to its resources since 2005, expects the share of gas as a proportion of total output to rise to 52 percent in 2012.

Shell?s output at the Athabasca oil sand project in Canada was reduced because of maintenance works after being shut in mid-March. The unit restarted last month. The company?s production was also affected by the suspension of pumping at the offshore EA field in Nigeria.

Refining margins are picking up after averaging $5.49 in the second quarter from $3.08 in the first three months of the year, according to BP?s Global Indicator Margin, a broad measure of the profitability of turning crude in to fuels.