Shell misses expectations with 70 percent earnings plunge

By Karolin Schaps and Dmitry Zhdannikov LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell reported a more than 70 percent fall in quarterly profit on Thursday, well below analyst estimates, blaming weak oil prices, poor refining profits and higher charges resulting from its $54 billion acquisition of BG Group. Shell's current cost of supplies -- its definition of net income -- came to $1 billion in the second quarter, compared with analyst expectations of $2.2 billion and $3.8 billion achieved the same time