Here’s how much ExxonMobil, Chevron paid foreign governments for oil exploration

The three largest U.S. oil companies — Exxon Mobil Corporation, Chevron Corporation and ConocoPhillips — revealed that they collectively paid more than $42 billion to foreign governments in 2023, about eight times the amount paid in the United States, per a Reuters report.

These revelations are a direct result of a new Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) regulation that required transparency in payments made to foreign governments for the first time.

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ExxonMobil’s Foreign Payments Dominated by UAE and Indonesia

According to the report, ExxonMobil paid nearly $25 billion to foreign governments, with the United Arab Emirates ($7.4 billion), Indonesia ($4.6 billion), and Malaysia ($3.2 billion) leading the list of recipient nations.

In contrast, the Texas-based energy giant paid just $2.3 billion in the United States, including a modest $1.2 billion to the Internal Revenue Service. Despite making $4.2 billion in U.S. upstream earnings, ExxonMobil’s non-U.S. earnings were significantly higher, at $17.1 billion.

While ExxonMobil argued that the comparison between U.S. and overseas payments is misleading, claiming US payments totaled $6.6 billion if state and local taxes were included, the stark contrast between payments to foreign governments and U.S. authorities highlights the global reach and profitability of the company’s operations.

Chevron’s Australia Payments Outpace U.S. Contributions

Chevron paid a total of $14.6 billion to foreign governments in 2023, with a significant portion ($4 billion) allotted to Australia. Its US payments were significantly smaller, at just $2 billion. Chevron’s operations in the Permian Basin, covering 2.2 million acres of mostly low or no-royalty land, provide a major advantage for the company’s US operations, keeping overhead costs low and boosting shareholder value.

Like ExxonMobil, Chevron’s profits skewed heavily toward international markets, generating $17.4 billion in upstream profits from abroad compared to just $4.1 billion in the United States. However, Chevron did not criticize the new disclosure rules and expressed its commitment to transparency and accountability.

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ConocoPhillips’ Global Payments Mostly Foreign-Based

ConocoPhillips reported $6.5 billion in global payments, with only $1.3 billion of that going to the United States. The company refused to comment further, highlighting the wider trend of U.S. energy firms directing most of their payments to foreign governments.