Shell earnings double as energy prices rebound

Royal Dutch Shell says first-quarter earnings more than doubled as energy prices rebounded and the company benefited from a cost-cutting drive announced when oil was at a 12-year low.

The Anglo-Dutch energy giant said Thursday that profit adjusted for changes in the value of inventories and excluding one-time items rose to $3.75 billion from $1.55 billion in the same period last year. Net income jumped to $3.54 billion from $484 million.

CEO Ben van Beurden says Shell has either announced or completed $20 billion of asset sales that will strengthen the bottom line. He says Shell is "rapidly transforming through the consistent and disciplined execution of our strategy."

Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, averaged $53.69 a barrel in the quarter, up 58 percent from a year earlier.