Shell, Europe's largest oil and gas company, said on Friday it expects second-quarter trading at its gas division to be "significantly lower" compared with the previous quarter.

In an update ahead of its second-quarter results on July 27, the company also announced writedowns of up to $3 billion for the quarter, primarily driven by a 1% increase in the discount rate used for impairment testing.

 

(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)