Royal Dutch Shell slashed its oil price forecast and prepared for a prolonged industry recession as it unveiled a $7.4 billion quarterly loss, the biggest in the company’s history.
Europe’s largest oil company, which is struggling to cope with a halving of international crude prices since June 2014, said that it would cut a further 1,000 jobs, taking total losses this year to 7,500, or 8 per cent of its 94,000-strong workforce.
Shell cited a “downward revision of the long-term oil and gas price outlook”, adding that it was scrapping a forecast of between $70 to $100 per barrel it uses for screening internal projects in favour of a lower range, thought to be about $60 per barrel.
Shell, which until recently had been relatively