Extracts from a Motley Fool article by Rupert Hargreaves under the headline: “Did ExxonMobil Make the Right Decision About Europe?”
Feeling the pain
There’s no company that is feeling the pain more than Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-B ) . Shell’s CEO, Ben van Beurden previously described the company’s refining sector results as “unacceptable.” It’s easy to see why.
During the first quarter of this year, Shell revealed a $2.9 billion charge to earnings, mainly due to writedowns on its refineries in Asia and Europe reflecting a poor outlook for refining margins.
What’s more, during the quarter the company’s downstream division reported a year-on-year slump in earnings of 15%, mainly as a result of tighter refining margins.