Shell investors get surprise $7-bn payout on shale deal

Royal Dutch Shell Plc shareholders will get an unexpected $7 billion payout after the company promised to give them three quarters of the proceeds from the sale of Permian shale oil fields to Conocophillips. The cash pledge comes less than two months after Shell raised its dividend by almost 40 per cent and started $2 billion of share buybacks. It’s more evidence that the energy giant is working hard to regain the faith of investors after making a historic cut to its payout last year in the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic.