Shell paid Nigerian government $3.2bn in taxes, royalties, fees in 2020

Royal Dutch Shell, the parent company of the Nigerian subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria Limited, says it paid a total of about $3.2 billion to the Nigerian government in 2020, according to its latest sustainability report released on Wednesday.

The payment is the largest payout from a total $13.1 billion the company said it made to about 24 host-governments covering countries where it has exploration and production activities around the world.

A further breakdown of the 2020 payment of $3.2 billion showed $2.2 billion was Nigeria’s production entitlements as part of its joint venture obligations to its Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

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Others include $440 million as company income tax (CIT) and other taxes it said it paid to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), as well as about $446.4 million to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in royalties.

It further paid the Niger Delta Development Commission (NNDC) $73.4 million and paid the DPR another $4.5 million as fees.

The closest rivals to the $3.2 billion Nigeria received were payments the company said it also made to Malaysia ($2.2 billion) and Norway ($1.7 billion).

The total payment of $3.2 billion made to Nigerian government in 2020 was 42 percent lower compared to the $5.2 billion paid in the corresponding period last year.

In his introduction to the report, Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden acknowledged the current global economic crisis as a result of the ravaging impact of the deadly coronavirus pandemic on the world.

In 2020, Shell said it paid more than $13.1 billion to various governments around the world, with $6.9 billion paid in production entitlements and $2.7 billion paid as taxes.