Peace Obi
In its commitment to transparency as part of the company’s core values and principles, Shell exploration and production companies in Nigeria comprising The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) has paid over $6.397 billion to the Nigerian government and its agencies in 2018. The sum it said represented a 48 per cent increase overpayments by the companies to Nigerian government in 2017 which was $4.322 billion.
In a statement by SNEPCo’s Media Relations Manager, Bamidele Odugbesan, it was noted that the payments formed part of the four documents released recently by the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Dutch Shell, Ben Van Beurden, to signal the global oil giant’s renewed commitment to greater transparency.
The documents are Shell Sustainability Report; Industry Associations Climate Review; Nigeria Briefing Notes; and Payments to Government Report. “Shell must remain at the forefront of the drive for greater corporate transparency. We will continue to be more open about what we do and why we do it.
“We want to help people better understand Shell’s performance, values and principles. These reports outline our approach and activities in the crucial areas of sustainability and our relationships with industry associations and governments.” Van Beurden said.
The breakdown of the 2018 payments shows that the Shell companies paid $3.776 billion to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation as production entitlement while $1.286 billion was paid in taxes to the Federal Inland Revenue Service. Another $1.253 went to the Department of Petroleum Resources for royalties and fees, while $81.5 million was remitted to the Niger Delta Development Commission.
The Managing Director of SPDC and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, described the reports as a further testament to Shell’s efforts to increase transparency around activities that are important to investors, governments and civil society. “We are irrevocably committed to transparency just as we are to business integrity part of our core values and central tenets of the Business Principles that govern the way we do business.”
The Managing Director of SPDC and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor described the reports as a further testament to Shell’s efforts to increase transparency around activities that are important to investors, governments and civil society.
He said: “We are irrevocably committed to transparency just as we are to business integrity part of our core values and central tenets of the Business Principles that govern the way we do business.”
Shell published its 2018 Payments to Governments Report covering 34 countries where it has extractive activities.
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