Brent oil trading over $76, Shell posts big $4.5bn profit

Brent oil prices are trading up in Asia on Thursday over the $76 mark as europe’s biggest oil company Shell posts a big $4.5bn operating profit, partly due to higher oil prices.

In London, Brent crude oil futures for September 2010 delivery were at $76.35, 08.00 GMT on the ICE Futures Exchange.

“This is a good performance from Shell, despite today’s challenging macro-economic conditions. We are on track for growth,” Shell’s chief executive Peter Voser said.

Shell, europe’s largest oil company by market value said oil production rose 5% to average 3.11 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the quarter.

The forecast beating performance from Shell in an “uncertain” economic climate came as the company unveiled a 5% increase in crude oil production. Profits were helped by higher refining margins than a year earlier, as well as higher Brent and WTI oil prices in 2009 when much of the global economy was still in recession.

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