Shell plunged to a mammoth loss in the second quarter of 2020 after slashing the value of its oil and gas fields by a record $17bn.

The Anglo-Dutch oil behemoth posted a loss of $18.4bn (£14.2bn) on a current cost of supplies basis, the measure the company uses to asses performance – down from a $3bn profit for the same period last year.

It is likely to spark fears of mass job cuts in a bid to steady the ship, following in the footsteps of rival BP which is axing 10,000 roles.

Shares fell more than 6pc to £11.52. The stock was trading above £20 in early February before the crisis hit.

Bosses were forced to write off $16.8bn from the company's assets after crude oil plunged following an unprecedented collapse in demand as lockdowns brought the world economy to a halt.

However, excluding one-off charges, the company delivered a small net profit – ahead of what analysts expected.

Shell said the impairment was triggered by a drop in price forecasts over the medium and long term.

The Brent crude international oil benchmark is down at $43 a barrel, a fall of 37pc since the start of the year, while the US West Texas Intermediate price measure briefly turned negative in April for the first time because traders almost ran out of space to store unused stock.

When stripping out the effects of the impairment, Shell posted a profit of $638m for the second quarter, down 82pc on the same period last year, but much better than the average analyst estimate of a $664m loss.

A strong performance from its oil trading division as turmoil raged on the markets offset some of the hit from lower oil and gas prices during the period.

Chief executive Ben van Beurden said: "Shell has delivered resilient cash flow in a remarkably challenging environment. We continue to focus on safe and reliable operations and our decisive cash preservation measures will underpin the strengthening of our balance sheet."

Analysts at RBC said Shell's oil trading and marketing in particular had shown resilience in tough conditions, and believe the firm may upgrade its earnings estimates for 2021 and the second half of 2020.