Ron Bousso

• LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) on Tuesday said it will write $22 billion off the value of its assets after sharply lowering its oil and gas price outlook in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. FILE PHOTO: Shell branding is seen at a petrol station in west London, January 29, 2015. REUTERS/Toby Melville 

The decision also comes as the Anglo-Dutch company reviews its operations after CEO Ben van Beurden laid out plans in April to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. [nL5N2C417D] 

Shell, which has a market value of $126.5 billion, said in an update ahead of its second-quarter results on July 30 that it will take an aggregate post-tax impairment charge in the range of $15 to $22 billion in the quarter. 

Shell’s shares were down 0.4% in early trading. 

The world’s largest fuel retailer said it expects a 40% drop in fuel sales in the second quarter from a year earlier to 4 million barrels per day (bpd) due to a sharp fall in consumption due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions. 

Upstream oil and gas production is expected to average 2.35 million bpd in the second quarter, down from 2.71 million bpd in the previous quarter.