Shell's stocks rose by over 3% as it announced higher quarterly earnings than arch-rival U.S. Exxon Mobil, the world's largest listed company by output. Shell's Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden said the oil sector had yet to emerge from troubled waters, but huge cost savings meant oil majors were getting closer to balancing their operations at today's oil prices of around US$50 a barrel. "Lower oil prices continue to be a significant challenge across the business, and the outlook remains uncertain," van Beurden said. The world's top oil and gas companies, including Exxon and Chevron, reported sharp drops in quarterly results last week due to lower oil prices and weaker refining margins. Exxon warned last Friday that it may need to slash proved oil and gas reserves on its books by nearly 20% or some 4.6 billion barrels, if oil prices stay low for the rest of 2016.

Source: The Edge Markets November 01, 2016 11:12 UTC