London, June 16, 2026, 10:02 (BST) — Shell shares slipped as lower oil prices and a $3 billion buyback suspension pushed investors to watch the stock closely.
- Shell traded near 3,071p in London on delayed data, ticking lower after shares tumbled hard on Monday.
- Brent crude slipped to its lowest level in three months on bets the Strait of Hormuz could see oil shipments resume.
- ARC Resources shareholders vote July 14. Shell’s second-quarter numbers come out July 30.
Shell Plc shares traded lower in London on Tuesday, still weighed down after a broad selloff in energy stocks and questions about its paused buyback programme. Hargreaves Lansdown quoted Shell at 3,070.50p to sell and 3,071.00p to buy, off by 10p, or 0.32%, on delayed data. The FTSE 100 was up 0.57%. On Monday, Shell fell 4.35% to finish at £30.81, lagging the FTSE 100’s 0.39% drop.
Oil was the biggest drag. Brent lost 1.7% to $81.73 a barrel at 0906 GMT Tuesday, hitting its lowest mark since March 10. U.S. West Texas Intermediate slipped 1.9% to $79.20. This follows a nearly 5% slump for crude on Monday, after Reuters said markets were reacting to word of a preliminary U.S.-Iran peace deal and signs the Strait of Hormuz could reopen. The Strait usually handles around one-fifth of the world’s oil. For Shell, falling oil prices can pressure expected upstream cash flow and make bigger payouts to shareholders less likely.
Energy stocks gave up gains as supply worries faded, cutting into the trade. Shell’s London shares dropped 5.2% on Monday, according to Reuters, with BP shares also moving lower. Ashley Kelty from Panmure Liberum said “flows are not likely to resume to anywhere near pre-war levels for months,” saying oil could stay volatile despite less headline risk. Suvro Sarkar, head of energy research at DBS, said traders would watch the reopening phase closely, and warned: “Anything other than a clean simultaneous unlock will mean renewed volatility in oil prices.” Reuters
Shell (SHEL) is putting its $3.0 billion share buyback on hold from June 12 until after market close on July 14, as it works through securities-law rules for its planned ARC Resources deal in Canada. The company said the buyback pause isn’t a cancellation, but it does mean less immediate buying for the shares. Shell said it would add any skipped repurchases to the rest of its 2026 buyback plans, if the board agrees.
Bulls still have their pitch. Shell reported Q1 adjusted earnings at $6.9 billion, calling that profit after stripping out some items, and showed cash flow from operations minus working capital at $17.2 billion. The ARC deal would bring in around 370,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and help Shell’s LNG push in Canada. But bears have more to point to now: Brent prices are dropping, Shell’s buyback is paused for now, and ARC holders still have to back the deal with at least 66⅔% of votes at the July 14 meeting.
Shell trades at about 13.1 times earnings, according to the price-to-earnings ratio from Hargreaves Lansdown, and the dividend yield is close to 3.5%. That doesn’t make the stock look expensive on the surface. Price-to-earnings tracks the share price against profit per share, which is a typical valuation metric. But after the latest move down in oil prices and the pause in buybacks, the shares look more fairly valued than outright cheap. Key things for investors: watch if Brent holds steady, see if ARC shareholders sign off on the deal July 14, and look for updates on cash flow, output and shareholder returns when Shell posts Q2 numbers and its interim payout on July 30.
