The company’s performance, which matched analyst expectations, caps a mixed earnings season for Big Oil. The US majors fell short of estimates, taking some of the shine off recent takeover deals, while their European peers mostly did better than expected.

“Shell delivered another quarter of strong operational and financial performance,” chief executive officer Wael Sawan said in a statement on Thursday. Total buybacks of US$6.5 billion in the second half are “well in excess” of the US$5 billion pledged in June, he said.

Shell’s adjusted net income from July to September was US$6.22 billion, an increase of 23% from the prior quarter but down about a third from a year earlier, according to the statement.

The London-based oil and gas giant said it would repurchase US$3.5 billion of shares over the next three months, an increase from US$3 billion in the prior period.

The company had already highlighted its strong performance in natural gas trading in the third quarter, which offset lower production. Total oil and gas output was down 9% from the preceding three months, reflecting higher levels of planned maintenance at the Prelude liquefied natural gas facility in Australia and works in Trinidad and Tobago.

Maintenance at Prelude and lower volumes from Egypt will continue to have an impact on LNG output until the end of the year, Shell said.

The oil majors’ growth strategies are in the spotlight after Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp agreed a pair of takeovers last month together worth more than US$100 billion.

While the CEOs of BP Plc, TotalEnergies SE and Eni SpA have all rebuffed suggestions that they need to follow the example of their dealmaking American rivals, Shell’s Sawan may face similar questions when he faces analysts later on Thursday.