
Shell today defended handing multi-billion dollar payouts to investors after 2021’s blistering rise in natural gas and oil prices helped propel annual profits to a seven-year high.
The energy giant announced a 4% increase in quarterly dividends to 25 cents (18p) per share and the expansion of its share buyback programme to $8.5 billion (£6. 3billion) after full-year adjusted earnings soared four-fold from £3.5 billion in 2020 to £14. 2 billion.