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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Rising oil price benefits Shell | Rising oil price benefits Shell |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Oil firm Royal Dutch Shell says it made first quarter profits of $7.8bn (£3.9bn), up from $6.9bn a year ago. | Oil firm Royal Dutch Shell says it made first quarter profits of $7.8bn (£3.9bn), up from $6.9bn a year ago. |
| It comes three months after the Anglo Dutch oil firm reported annual profits of $27.56bn (£13.9bn), a record for a UK-listed company. | It comes three months after the Anglo Dutch oil firm reported annual profits of $27.56bn (£13.9bn), a record for a UK-listed company. |
| The firm has benefited from the rising price of oil, which is closing in on $120 a barrel, up from $91 in January. | |
| Chief executive Jeroen van der Veer said he would continue to grow the firm after a "good operating performance". | Chief executive Jeroen van der Veer said he would continue to grow the firm after a "good operating performance". |
| Shell shares are listed in the UK and the Netherlands, while the company's headquarters are in The Hague. | Shell shares are listed in the UK and the Netherlands, while the company's headquarters are in The Hague. |
| Simon Wardell, oil analyst at Global Insight, said Shell had pumped slightly less oil this year compared to 2007. | |
| And he said the rising price of petrol was "predominantly down to high oil prices". | |
| "Oil prices are high because of the weak dollar and because reserves are under pressure, the spare capacity margin is narrowing, Opec does not have a great deal more oil to pump," he said. | |
| "That scarcity is reflected in the high oil prices." | |
| But he said that oil firms could not sit back and just watch the profits flow in. | |
| "Oil firms have to think about the long-term investment, and what prices might be in the future." |