Shell PLC

Welcome and thank you for joining Shell's third quarter results presentation for 2026. This quarter we once again demonstrated our ability to deliver strong results in a highly volatile and elevated commodity price environment. Our diverse portfolio, performance focus and trading capabilities allowed us to capture further opportunities while we continue to work hard supplying our customers. All of this helped us deliver some $10.8 billion of adjusted earnings and $21 billion of cash flow from operations. We could not have delivered this without the hard work and dedication from colleagues right across Shell. Let's turn to the performance of our businesses in more detail. In Upstream, we continue to deliver exceptional operational performance. In August, our assets in the Gulf of America delivered the highest monthly production in over two decades. In Integrated Gas, we also delivered strong results underpinned by our advantaged LNG trading and optimisation capabilities. And we look forward to unlocking the full potential of the ARC resources acquisition, which completed in September. The acquisition strengthens our position in Canada, which is a key heartland, and contributes 370,000 barrels of oil equivalent of production a day. Our marketing business performed well despite experiencing a lower margin environment. We were also pleased to see Shell Lubricants recognised as the best-selling supplier for a record 20th year in a row. This is testament to two decades of dedication from our team in supplying the high-quality lubricant and fluid solutions that our customers need. Turning to chemicals and products, where performance was strong. In products, record results were driven by another quarter of impressive refining performance, as we achieved a utilization rate above 100% when excluding Rhineland, which was impacted by low Rhine water levels. In this dislocated market, we are showing agility in support of keeping our customers supplied. And chemicals was free cash flow positive for a second quarter in a row, as the team continues to work hard to unlock greater value. Across the company, we have been complementing our strong operational performance with important portfolio changes through both further strengthening areas where we are competitively advantaged, whilst also high grading wherever we see the opportunity to do so. This was demonstrated through three important announcements we've recently made. First, there was the completion of the ARC resources acquisition, which I mentioned earlier. This acquisition complements our existing footprint in Canada, strengthening our resource base for decades to come. It extends our best-in-basin natural gas capabilities into liquids from a top-quartile, low-carbon intensity producer. Secondly, we announced last month that we have taken a final investment decision on LNG Canada Phase 2. This expansion will double liquefaction capacity at the facility, with Shell receiving nearly 6 million tonnes per annum of additional LNG volumes. It strengthens both our advantage position in Canada and our global LNG portfolio. Thirdly, we announced the acquisition of TriStar Energy, which more than doubles the number of company-owned convenience retail sites in the US. These announcements show how we are reallocating capital from non-core assets like Cypress Gas, end-of-life Gulf of America assets and Jiffy Lubes into businesses where we expect to create significant value and we are very pleased with the progress thus far. Moving on to our financial framework. Our cash capex range for 2026 is now between $23 and $25 billion, which includes some $4 billion for the acquisition of ARC resources. Since the end of last year, we have reduced net debt by $6 billion, with gearing at 17% at the end of Q3, or less than 3% when excluding leases. Taking a step back, I am really pleased to see that the strong performance that we have delivered has enabled us to further strengthen the balance sheet, whilst completing the acquisition of ARC Resources, which added some $6 billion to our net debt position. Now turning to our shareholder distributions. Our policy of shareholder distributions of 40-50% of CFFO through the cycle remains sacrosanct, aligned with our commitment to deliver attractive returns to our shareholders. Today we have announced a further $5 billion share buyback programme, which we expect to complete by the time of our Q4 results announcement. Our progressive dividend remains one of our key financial priorities, as can be seen by the 9% increase in our dividend per share over the last 12 months. So to summarise, our Q3 performance demonstrates the good progress that we are making against our strategy, and highlights our ability to adapt and respond in times of higher volatility and elevated macro conditions. We continue with the relentless pursuit of the transformation of the company, strengthening our portfolio and driving performance, discipline and simplification across the organisation. We look forward to sharing more about the strategic progress we've made at our capital markets update, which will take place on the 4th of February, together with our Q4 2026 results. Thank you.

We will now begin the question and answer session. People dialed in, if you have a question, please press star 1. If you wish to be removed from the queue, please press star 2. Phone callers are requested to mute the audio on their computer webcast and listen attentively to their telephone audio as we begin to progress through the telephone questions.

Thank you for joining us today. As you just heard from Sinead, Shell delivered a very strong set of results in this third quarter with a strong operational performance in a highly volatile environment. Now, Sinead and I will be answering your questions. So please, could we just have one or two questions each so that everyone has the opportunity? And with that, can we have the first question, please, Matt?