Royal Dutch Shell warned today that its fourth-quarter figures are expected to be significantly lower than recent levels of profitability because of current oil and gas prices and problems in the downstream environment.

Shell, which missed analyst forecasts for its third-quarter trading in October, said its fourth-quarter 2013 earnings on a current cost of supplies basis excluding identified items are expected to be about $2.9 billion.

“Our 2013 performance was not what I expect from Shell,” chief executive Ben van Beurden said. (Reuters)