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Voser said there remained an "important role" for deep-water oil production

LONDON (AFP) - Royal Dutch Shell posted soaring profits on Thursday and defended deep-water oil production, saying it has an "important role" to play despite the US Gulf of Mexico disaster that rocked rival BP.

The Anglo-Dutch oil giant reported a 15-percent jump in net profit to 4.39 billion dollars (3.38 billion euros) in the second quarter, as it slashed costs and raised output.

Its performance contrasts markedly with that of embattled BP, which on Tuesday posted a second-quarter loss of 16.9 billion dollars in the wake of the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

"This is a good performance from Shell, despite today's challenging macro-economic conditions. We are on track for growth," Shell chief executive Peter Voser said in a statement.

Voser offered his sympathy to all those affected by the Gulf spill -- the worst environmental disaster in US history -- but insisted that there remained an "important role" for deep-water oil production.

"The BP ... blow-out and the related Gulf of Mexico oil spill is a tragedy for everyone affected," Voser said.

"We were all shocked by the loss of life there, and the on-going and wide-spread impacts from the spill.

"World-wide deep water production has an important role to play in the global energy supply equation, with potential for production growth with supply diversity, and sustained investment in technology, jobs and services.

"The recent announcement of Shell's participation in a new, one billion dollar Gulf of Mexico oil spill containment system is an example of where we are working with governments and partners to improve the industry's capabilities," Voser added.

©AFP/File / Shaun Curry

Shell has reported a 15-percent jump in net profit to 4.39 billion dollars (3.38 billion euros) in the second quarter

BP has been mauled by Washington since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers and unleashing millions of gallons of crude into the sea and onto the US Gulf coast.

BP chief executive Tony Hayward on Tuesday said he will step down in October, while claiming he had been "demonised and vilified" over the spill.

It has taken more than three months to stem the flow, while up to four million barrels of crude have escaped.

The catastrophe has destroyed tourism, fishing and oil industries in the five US Gulf coast states and left BP facing soaring clean-up and compensation costs.

Shell on Thursday said that its net profit, when also adjusted for the value of inventories of oil and gas, soared to 4.21 billion dollars in the three months to June.

This was above expectations of 4.02 billion dollars in a Dow Jones Newswires poll of 12 analysts. Shell's production meanwhile increased by five percent to 3.1 million barrels of oil equivalent.

"We are delivering on our strategy. Shell's cost programmes have delivered over 3.5 billion dollars of annualised underlying savings," said Voser.

"Our investments have underpinned a five percent increase in oil and gas production for the quarter."

In midday London trade, Shell shares were up 1.73 percent at 1,736.5 pence.

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Dominique Cottrez has admitted suffocating the infants

DOUAI, France (AFP) - A French mother admitted killing eight newborn babies Thursday, investigators said, as a shocked nation struggled to digest the latest grisly tragedy of village life.

Dominique Cottrez, a nursing assistant in her forties, was charged with the murder of the babies and her husband Pierre-Marie Cottrez with failure to report a crime and illegally hiding corpses.

The mother admitted suffocating the infants and insisted her husband knew nothing about the pregnancies nor the killings, according to an official close to the investigations. She faces life imprisonment.

Her husband denied any knowledge of the deaths, the official said.

Stunned residents of the pair's quiet village of Villers-au-Tertre in northern France put flowers and candles outside the two houses where police had found the skeletal remains over the previous few days.

Prosecutors described it as the worst case of infanticide in recent French history, following a string of similar cases in which isolated and troubled mothers disposed of their newborns.

The suspects were brought before a magistrate in the nearby town of Douai to hear the charges. They were remanded in custody and prosecutors promised to hold a news conference to explain the charges.

Pierre-Marie Cottrez worked as a carpenter and was a respected member of the council in Villers-au-Tertre, a 620-strong community.

"He's on his third term in office. He used to volunteer in the community. He's a respectable man," local mayor Patrick Mercier told reporters.

Mercier said the councillor's wife was a more withdrawn person who rarely took part in village life. He said she had a weight problem which might be the reason why any pregnancies had passed unnoticed.

"No-one was aware of anything at all," said the shocked mayor.

©AFP/Graphics / null

Prosecutors described it as the worst case of infanticide in recent French history

The pair were arrested on Tuesday and questioned all day Wednesday while police used sniffer dogs to search two addresses after the new owners of a home found the bones of two infants while digging in their garden.

The house previously belonged to the parents of the arrested woman.

Search teams then headed on to the couple's current home in another part of the village, where six more sets of remains were found, a local councillor told reporters.

Gendarmes were deployed outside one of the houses where the babies' bodies were found, and sealed off the entrance to the macabre scene with plastic sheeting.

"I'm thinking of all the children in the world. I'm thinking of all the children who didn't ask to be born and were thrown out a few hours later," said local priest Father Robert Meignotte.

"I'm very upset. I baptise five children every Sunday in the 17 villages of the parish. You don't just throw children out like that in a big bag. It's incomprehensible," he said.

©AFP / Denis Charlet

Dominique Cottrez said her husband knew nothing about the pregnancies nor the killings

"I'm still in shock," said a former mayor of Villers-au-Tertre, Daniel Collignon, describing the village as a very calm and rural place.

Neighbours reacted with astonishment. "They are normal people, who even have a role in the community," said one. "It's incredible."

Another neighbour, a man in his 50s, added: "These are attractive, helpful, polite and courteous people, who did nothing to make you think them capable of anything abnormal.

The couple had lived in the village for 15 years and had two grown-up daughters who have children themselves, local residents said.

The incident is the latest in a string of similar cases in France.

Earlier this year a mother was convicted of killing six of her newborn children and hiding them in the cellar of her house in northwestern France.

Another notorious recent case was Veronique Courjault, who in June 2009 was jailed for eight years by a court in Tours, central France.

©AFP / Denis Charlet

The woman was charged with the "deliberate homicides of minors" -- which carries a life sentence

She admitted to having smothered two baby boys born in secret at her expatriate home in South Korea in 2002 and 2003, and a third child born in France in 1999, and hidden them in a freezer.

She was freed in May 2010, having served four years in jail after the time she spent in remand since her arrest.