Royal Dutch/Shell will pay about $150 million in fines for in relation to an oil reserves scandal.
Shell shocked investors in January by slashing its proven oil and gas reserves by 20 per cent. Subsequent smaller reserves cuts, while not as dramatic as the first, further dented investor confidence.
The Anglo-Dutch firm said it had agreed in principle to resolve investigations by the United States Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and Britain's Financial Services Authority (FSA) over its reserves recount.
Shell said it would pay £17 millionto the FSA for breaching market-abuse provisions and listing rules and a civil penalty of $120 million to the SEC for violation of US securities laws and SEC rules.
However, Shell added that the final impact of the reserves scandal on the group remained difficult to assess.
The world's third-biggest oil group said net profit adjusted for the current cost of supply was $3.768 billion in the quarter, up 16 per cent from a year earlier, but below forecasts. The company said production was lower and would fall further.
Shell joined rivals such as BP in benefiting from record oil prices, which have surged amid political tension in the Middle East and a crisis at Russian oil major Yukos.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast profits between $3.8-$4.3 billion, with an average forecast of $4.05 billion.