Shell's second-quarter net profit tumbled by almost a third on Thursday, dragged down by a drop in oil prices, lower gas trading results and outage-related losses from its chemicals operations, but it still easily beat analysts' forecasts.

British energy giant Shell on Thursday said its net profit slid 23 percent in the first six months of the year, hit by lower oil and gas prices. Earlier this year, Shell's British rival BP launched a major pivot back to its oil and gas business,

Shell reported Q2 earnings that fell less than expected and said it will maintain its pace of buying back $3.5B of shares, despite lower oil and gas prices that are weighing on energy firms.