Royal Dutch Shell Plc reported its biggest net loss in at least a decade as it wrote down the value of assets and lowered its oil-price expectations. The company, which is buying BG Group Plc in the industry’s largest deal this year, reported a third-quarter net loss of $7.42 billion, compared with a profit of $4.46 billion a year earlier. It took charges totaling $7.89 billion following its withdrawal from Alaskan offshore exploration and a Canadian oil-sands project. Profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes dropped 70 percent to $1.8 billion, The Hague-based Shell said Thursday in a statement. That missed the $2.92 billion average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Europe’s biggest oil producer has cut jobs and reduced spending this year as Chief Executive Officer Ben Van Beurden prepares the company for prolonged market stagnation. Crude’s decline in the past 16 months has been brutal […]