Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday that net profits jumped 22 percent to 8.448 billion dollars (6.407 billion euros) in the third quarter, when oil prices hit record heights.

Net earnings on a current cost of supply (CCS) basis, excluding fluctuations in the value of inventories, rocketed 71 percent to 10.9 billion dollars in the three months to September, compared with the same period of 2007.

World oil prices blazed a record-breaking trail in the third quarter to strike all-time pinnacles above 147 dollars per barrel in July on tense supply concerns.

However, prices have since slumped on worries about slowing global economic growth and lower demand for energy, analysts said.

Shell added on Thursday that production fell 6.6 percent in the third quarter of the year to 2.931 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.