London, Feb 7, 2026, 21:55 GMT — Markets are shut for the day.
- Shell ended Friday’s session in London with shares up 0.18%.
- Shell has tapped PwC to take over as its auditor, planning to swap out EY starting in 2027.
- Shell CEO Wael Sawan says the company is hitting pause on new investments in Kazakhstan, citing ongoing legal disputes.
Shell edged up 0.18% to close at 2,774.5 pence on Friday, leaving shares hovering around the midpoint of their latest trading band as the week wrapped up. 1
It’s significant: investors are counting on Big Oil for payouts. Shell’s steady flow of buybacks and dividends has underpinned the shares, especially as energy prices slipped and swings hit refining and chemicals.
Governance and project risk have resurfaced. Investors are now weighing a planned auditor switch and an escalating legal dispute in Kazakhstan. The company, for its part, is still repurchasing shares.
Shell said Friday it picked PricewaterhouseCoopers to take over as auditor, handing the job to PwC in 2027 after a tender. The company also plans to revise its 2023 and 2024 annual reports because EY, its current auditor, didn’t meet U.S. audit partner rotation rules. The numbers in the financial statements won’t change. 2
Shell is hitting the brakes on new projects in Kazakhstan amid ongoing cost-related lawsuits from the government, CEO Wael Sawan told analysts. “It does impact our appetite to invest further in Kazakhstan,” Sawan said, explaining that Shell will stay on the sidelines until there’s “better line of sight” on the outcome of the legal cases. 3
Shell revealed more buybacks, snapping up 524,075 shares on the London Stock Exchange on Feb. 6 for cancellation. The company made further purchases on other platforms, still under its current buyback programme. Starting Feb. 5 and running through May 1, Shell said trading decisions will be handled independently by Morgan Stanley. 4
Shell’s fourth-quarter adjusted earnings landed at $3.3 billion earlier this week, shy of the $3.5 billion analysts had expected, according to the company’s own poll. Still, Shell stuck with its $3.5 billion share buyback for the quarter and boosted its dividend by 4%, now $0.372 per share. CFO Sinead Gorman described the 40%-50% rolling payout range as “sacrosanct.” CEO Wael Sawan said acquisitions and field improvements had “largely” bridged the anticipated production gap. Over at Exxon, a $20 billion buyback remains on deck for this year, while Equinor has slashed its program. 5
Buybacks happen when a company buys back its own stock—typically aiming to reduce the number of shares out there and hand some cash back to shareholders. This can lift earnings per share, but that only works if the company’s cash flow doesn’t falter and the balance sheet remains solid.
That’s the tricky part. Legal battles in Kazakhstan might prove expensive, and swapping auditors only sharpens the spotlight on compliance and reporting, right when investors are hoping for less noise. If oil and gas prices stay down — plus chemicals remain sluggish — the pressure mounts on whether current distribution levels can really hold up.
Shell reported $5.1 billion in structural cost cuts since 2022 in its fourth-quarter update, and is targeting cash capital spending of $20 billion to $22 billion for 2026. The company scheduled its LNG outlook for March 16, with first-quarter results and dividends due out May 7. 6
Investors watching Shell’s next move have their eyes on the dividend schedule: the ex-dividend date lands on Feb. 19 for ordinary shares, and Feb. 20 for U.S. ADSs. Payment’s set for March 30. 7
