Shell has revealed a better-than-expected 70% surge in first half earnings despite “severe disruption” in oil and gas markets amid the Iran war. (PA Archive)Shell has revealed a better-than-expected 70% surge in half-year earnings thanks to its best quarterly performance for fours years, despite "severe disruption" in oil and gas markets due to the Iran war. The second quarter result was more than double the 4.26 billion dollars (£3.19 billion) posted a year earlier and up sharply on 6.92 billion dollars (£5.18 billion) the previous quarter. This helped offset falling gas production, which tumbled by 31% due to an Iranian attack on its Qatar gas-to-liquids plant at the start of the Middle East conflict. Its oil trading division had already seen earnings more than quadruple year on year in the first quarter.