(ICIS) -- Shell's chemicals current cost of supplies (CCS) earnings surged 77% to $493m (┬355m) during the fourth quarter of 2010, from $279m in the same three-month period in 2009, the Netherlands-headquartered oil and gas major said on Thursday.
The company said its chemicals CCS earnings compared with the fourth quarter of 2009 reflected improved realised chemicals margins, higher chemicals sales volumes, higher income from equity-accounted investments and lower operating expenses.
Chemicals sales volumes increased by 10% year on year in the fourth quarter to 5,297,000 tonnes, from 4,835,000 tonnes during the same period in 2009. This was mainly due to the start-up of the Shell Eastern Petrochemicals Complex in Singapore, the company said.
Chemicals manufacturing plant availability was unchanged from the fourth quarter of 2009, at 95%, it added. For the full year, chemicals CCS earnings surged to $1.51bn from $316m in 2009.