Higher production and sales in Asia helped Shell's liquefied natural gas (LNG) business outshine TotalEnergies' in the third quarter, analysts and traders said, even as group profits at both were hit by a slump in oil refining. Shell reported quarterly profits of $6 billion, beating forecasts by 12%, while TotalEnergies' $4.1 billion profit slightly missed expectations. Both results were affected by 70% and 82% drops in profits from their oil refining and chemicals businesses, respectively, with the different performance of their LNG divisions standing out.