Shell made nearly £1.4bn more in profit than experts had expected in the first three months of the year.
The energy giant joined its rival BP in reporting expectations-beating results this week.
Shell said that its adjusted earnings had risen by 5.7% compared to the same quarter a year earlier, reaching £7.6bn.
The business said that compared to the last three months of 2022, it had faced unfavourable tax movements, and the price it was able to sell oil and gas at dropped.
However, Shell said that it had managed to offset some of this through cutting operating expenses and a rise in its chemicals and products trading business.
The company said that it had decreased production slightly compared to a year ago, to 2.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. Revenue rose 3.3% to £69bn.
It also announced plans to buy back shares worth £3.2bn from investors over the next three months, in order to return cash to its owners.
On completion, the company will have distributed around £9.6bn to its shareholders in the first six months of 2023.
Chief executive Wael Sawan said: “In Q1 Shell delivered strong results and robust operational performance, against a backdrop of ongoing volatility, while continuing to deliver vital supplies of secure energy.”
Shell’s results immediately sparked calls for the UK Government to take a tougher stance against the oil majors.
Alexander Kirk, a campaigner at Global Witness, said: “Despite the glaringly obvious inequality at the heart of our energy system, the government appears to be making the same mistakes all over again.
“The simple truth is that the windfall tax has not worked and new evidence has shown that through loopholes in the UK’s tax regime, UK taxpayers are handing oil and gas companies billions extra in tax rebates.”
The Scottish Greens energy and environment spokesperson Mark Ruskell said: “These are climate wrecking profits, with every pound taking us another step closer to environmental breakdown.
“The problem isn’t just companies like Shell, it’s the governments and system that support them and allow them to do so much damage.
“This generation of politicians and leaders has the resources and the expertise to do things differently - we still have the chance for a just transition away from the fossil fuels that have done so much damage - it is an opportunity that we must take.”
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