Shell’s earnings have come under pressure from weak oil prices. The Anglo-Dutch oil company’s fourth-quarter profit on a current cost-of-supplies basis—a number similar to the net income that U.S. oil companies report—tumbled to $1.8 billion down from $4.2 billion a year earlier. Its profit for the year slumped 80% to $3.8 billion from $19 billion in 2014. Despite the loss, investors reacted positively to the news. Shell’s shares rose 4% in early London trading. The sharp profit decline caps a week of dismal financial performances from the world’s largest oil companies, as a 20-month slide in the price of oil forced write-downs and eroded earnings for 2015. Shell rival BP BP 2.21 % PLC reported a loss of $5.2 billion in 2015, on a par with the hit it took after its Gulf of Mexico blowout in 2010. Chevron Corp. CVX 4.16 % and Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM 5.22 […]