Shell has again called for a tightening of the contingency tax after it was revealed that its former boss’s pay package rose by more than 50% to £9.7m last year.
Ben van Beurden’s salary is up 53% from £6.3m in 2021. The figure for 2022 includes a £2.6m annual bonus and a £4.9m long-term bonus on top of his £1.4m annual salary.
The bonus follows Shell’s record $40bn (£33.5bn) profit last year as energy prices surged.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey denounced the wage package, calling it “outrageous” and calling for more windfall benefits for the sector.
“It is outrageous that oil and gas bosses are raking in millions in rewards while families struggle to heat their homes,” said Sir Ed.
“Rishi Sunak’s refusal to properly tax these staggering bonuses and record-breaking winnings is staggering and shows just how unattainable he is.”
Alice Harrison, an activist with Global Witness, said: “Shell’s CEO made as much in a year as an ordinary British worker would make in six lifetimes. This is a sign of how broken our energy system is.”
The lobbying group wants the government to change the oil and gas contingency tax to cover executive bonuses.
The new scandal comes after Harbor Energy, Britain’s biggest North Sea oil and gas producer, said it would move investments overseas after a contingency tax cut its profits.
Harbor said after-tax profits fell from $101 million to $8 million (£6.7 million) last year despite higher oil and gas prices and increased production.
The surprise tax “virtually wiped out our profits for the year,” CEO Linda Cook said.
“Given the fiscal volatility and investment prospects in the country, this has also strengthened our strategic goal of growing and diversifying internationally,” she said.
The port tax paid in the UK – the money actually paid to HM Revenue & Customs – was over $500 million, almost four times the amount paid by Shell, as only a fraction of Shell’s profits are spent in the UK.
Wael Savan, Shell’s new CEO, said Europe should stop “relying on luck as a strategy” and focus on developing all forms of energy, especially natural gas, in response to the energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He said the energy transition will be driven more by demand patterns than by efforts to reduce or change supply.
„Einfach die Welt von dieser Versorgung, dieser Öl- oder Gasproduktion zu verhungern, wird zu der massiven Volatilität und den Preisspitzen führen, die wir im Jahr 2021 gesehen haben, was die Probleme verschlimmert, die wir jetzt mit den Lebenshaltungskosten auf se der ganzen Welt “, He said.
“Europe needs to be able to get much more liquefied natural gas (LNG) if it wants to have the security of supply it wants,” Sawan said. “We need more storage (gas), we need more sustainable sources.”
He said the federal government made “great progress” last year by building four LNG import terminals, two of which are already operational.
“This is a vital import infrastructure for Europe to have the confidence to diversify the supply chain,” Sawan said.
Source: I News
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