Oil and gas giant Shell expects a rise in liquefied natural gas production and resilient gas trading in the third quarter, potentially offsetting continued refining margin weakness, The Wall Street Journal reports. Shell will likely have to rely on strong gas trading to drive third-quarter earnings as oil prices and refining margins are expected to drag results across the European energy sector, analysts predict. Concerns about the outlook for global demand put pressure on oil prices through the third quarter that ended Sept. 30. Meanwhile, continued weak refining margins are set to drag Shell’s downstream result once again. Shell, the world’s largest trader of liquefied natural gas, lifted its production guidance for the period to between 7.3 million and 7.7 million metric tons from a previous range of 6.8 million to 7.4 million tons.  It also raised its upstream output guidance, as it now expects to report between 1.74 million and 1.84 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, up from its previous outlook of 1.58 million to 1.78 million daily barrels. In the second quarter, it produced 1.78 million daily barrels. Read the full story.