Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which is on the brink of completing the oil industry’s largest deal in a decade, said fourth-quarter profit fell 44 percent, according to Bloomberg.

Taking into account the economic crisis and changes in the economy and politics in general, profit shrank to $1.8 billion, near the midpoint of the preliminary $1.6 billion-to-$1.9 billion range it gave last month, Shell said in a statement Thursday. That matches the $1.8 billion average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, and compares with profit of $3.3 billion a year earlier.

Crude’s collapse has slashed earnings for oil companies from Exxon Mobil Corp. to BP Plc, leaving them struggling to strike a balance between investing for growth and making shareholder payouts. Shell is betting its $50 billion acquisition of BG Group Plc will help it maintain dividends and increase oil and gas production.

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