Shell sold 66,000 barrels per day of lubricants in the third quarter of 2026, down 25% from 88,000 b/d a year earlier and 12% from the second quarter, when sales averaged 75,000 b/d, the company reported in its third-quarter results last week.
The company attributed the decline to market impacts from the conflict in the Middle East, which had knocked out its Pearl gas-to-liquids plant in Qatar in early March.
The latest figure marks a further contraction in Shell’s lubricant business, which supplies products for road transport and machinery used in manufacturing, mining, power generation, agriculture and construction.
Shell’s marketing division, which includes lubricants, reported adjusted earnings of U.S.$1.16 billion for the quarter, down 11.6% from $1.32 billion in the same period last year and 12.4% from the second quarter. Shell said lower lubricant volumes and weaker unit margins in its mobility segment contributed to the sequential decline.
The decline in lubricants came as Shell reported group adjusted earnings of $10.81 billion, almost double the $5.43 billion recorded in the third quarter of 2025. Shell’s chemicals and products division also reported stronger results, with adjusted earnings of $3.86 billion, up from $550 million a year earlier, even as the company is considering disbursing its Infineum additives joint venture.