BBC News |
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Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has announced a 14% rise in annual profits to $31.4bn (£22.3bn), helped by record oil prices over the summer. However, profits for the final three months of 2008 fell by 28% compared with a year previously, from $6.7bn to $4.8bn, after oil prices dropped. The fourth-quarter profit was also 56% lower than the previous quarter. Oil prices reached $157 a barrel in July 2008 before falling dramatically to below $50 by the year end.
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