By TOBY STERLING Royal Dutch Shell PLC on Thursday reported a fourth quarter net profit of $1.96 billion, due to higher oil prices, but said refining margins were poor and announced plans for 1,000 new job cuts.The profit compares with a loss of $2.81 billion in the same period a year ago, when the company had to write down the value of its inventory after a sharp fall in the price of oil.However, stripping out the cost of inventories, profit was $1.18 billion, down 75 percent from $4.79 billion."Oil prices have increased compared to a year ago, but gas prices and refining margins have declined sharply," said Chief Executive Peter Voser in a statement, blaming weak demand and high inventory levels."We are not assuming there will be a quick recovery and the outlook for 2010 is uncertain."Shares fell 1.7 percent to euro20.04 in early trading in Amsterdam.He said moves in October 2009 to cut costs, including shedding 5,000 jobs, or 5 percent of the company's work force, have led to $2 billion in savings on operating costs.

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