North Sea Neighbors on Opposite Ends of Shell’s Tax Bill
- Energy giant gets money back from Britain for a second year
- Norway, however, taps company for more than $1 billion
The return of cash from the British government is largely down to Shell’s activities in the North Sea.
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
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Royal Dutch Shell Plc pumps thousands of barrels of oil and gas from the North Sea every day. In Norway the energy major paid over a billion dollars in tax last year, but on the U.K. side, it got more than a hundred million dollars back.
The discrepancy reflects contrasting government policies and spending by the oil and gas giant. In Norway, Shell had an effective tax rate of 78%. In Britain, it paid no corporation tax because of losses tied to investments in new North Sea fields. It also earned rebates from dismantling old platforms in the region.