The margins were boosted by recovering global demand from the pandemic, a lack of refining capacity and lower fuel exports from Russia.

Earnings from oil and refined products trading were expected to be strong in the quarter but lower than the first quarter of 2022, Shell said.

Shell’s indicative refining margin rose in the second quarter to $28.04 per barrel from $10.23 a barrel in the first quarter and $4.17 a year earlier.

Oil and gas prices remained elevated in the quarter, with benchmark Brent crude averaging about $114 a barrel.

“In the second quarter 2022, Shell has revised its mid and long-term oil and gas commodity prices reflecting the current macroeconomic environment as well as updated energy market demand and supply fundamentals,” it said.

Shell increased its assumed price for Brent to $80 a barrel in 2023, up from $60 in its 2021 annual report. For 2024 and 2025, the Brent price was increased to $70 a barrel compared with $60.

The long-term price was $65, compared with $63.

The upgrade will result in post-tax impairment reversals of $3.5 to $4.5 billion.

Shell said it completed its $8.5 billion share buyback programme during the second quarter.

The company said in May it expects to increase returns to shareholders in the form of dividend and share buybacks in the second “in excess” of its current target of 30% of cash from operations.

Shell’s oil and gas production was expected to be up to 2.93 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the quarter, its lowest in at least seven years, as a result of high field maintenance.

Shell, the world’s largest trader of liquefied natural gas, said its quarterly LNG production was expected to be in a range of 7.4 to 8 million tonnes.

The figure reflects the removal of LNG volumes from the Sakhalin-2 plant in eastern Russia which Shell exited.

Energy and commodity prices will remain much higher for longer, Ibec expects, even if growth in inflation – currently running at a 22 year high of 6.7% – slows down.

It warns that any “premature or misjudged” monetary policy reactions to the inflationary environment could trigger an unnecessary economic contraction.

“This coming year will be a tight balancing act for policymakers globally,” the report warns, adding that measures to support households and businesses must be “tightly targeted” to avoid further stoking inflation.

“Ibec is calling on Government to intensify work through the Labour Employer Economic Forum to ensure better coordination and targeting of tax, social welfare and other labour market policies that can address inflationary pressures,” Gerard Brady, Chief Economist and Head of National Policy with Ibec said.Overall consumer trends in the opening months of the year captured the strong momentum underlying the economy with retail sales volumes in the first two months up 12% on the same period in 2019.

But Ibec warns that the global environment will drag on growth this year and next, with rising energy costs, record commodity and transport costs and global supply chain challenges resulting in a slowing of business investment and lower than previously expected consumer spending.

“Rising energy prices will introduce a relative price shock to consumer spending,” Mr Brady said.

“This is where households when faced with higher spending on energy bills, cut back on consumption elsewhere. Overall consumption remains unchanged but other sectors of the economy – particularly those reliant on discretionary spending – lose out,” he added.