Appointed in January 2023, Shell's Lebanese-Canadian CEO Wael Sawan has made this clear. From now on, Shell will focus on its historical activities - producing and refining oil and gas - with the emphasis on remunerating its shareholders first and foremost.

In fact, its renewable energies segment lost $187 million in the second quarter, while its hydrocarbon production, transport, refining and marketing activities together generated $7 billion. There's no contest, one might say.

For the first six months of the year, consolidated free cash flow amounted to $20 billion. Under these conditions, Shell is keeping the floodgates wide open for the return of capital to shareholders, and is launching a new $3.5 billion share buyback program.

We recall that Wael Sawan's predecessor, the Dutchman Ben van Beurden, described the major earlier this year as "massively undervalued". In three years, Shell is on track to generate $115 billion in free cash flow, almost two-thirds of which will be returned to shareholders, mostly via share buy-backs.

These impressive figures are set against a market capitalization of £170 billion, or $220 billion in US dollars. It is notable that, despite comparable profitability, Shell, like the other European majors, remains valued at a premium to Exxon or Chevron.