Royal Dutch Shell saw its profits jump by 42 percent in the first quarter, leading to the best quarterly results in years. Yet Wall Street is still skeptical of Shell and many of the other oil majors. The jump in oil prices to a three-year high was a boon to the earnings of the Anglo-Dutch oil company. On a current cost of supply basis – similar to net income – Shell earned $5.3 billion, slightly beating expectations. That compared favorably to the $3.75 billion Shell earned in the first quarter of 2017. Profits of this size have not been seen since oil was last trading in triple-digit territory, prior to the 2014 oil market meltdown. “Shell’s strong earnings this quarter were underpinned by higher oil and gas prices, the continued growth and very good performance of our Integrated Gas business, and improved profitability in our Upstream business,” Shell’s CEO […]