Some of the world’s biggest oil companies are currently paying negative tax on their fossil fuel extraction and production operations in the North Sea.
Official data published by the UK government-backed Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative shows that in the tax year 2019-20, ExxonMobil received £117m in total from HMRC, Shell got £110m, and BP received £39m.
A third of all significant energy companies operating in the North Sea paid negative tax last year.
This is possible in large part because of a UK tax policy that was brought in just a few months after the Paris climate accord was agreed in 2015.
The policy allows oil and gas companies to claim back public money in order to help with decommissioning rigs and infrastructure as the UK progresses towards its net-zero carbon emissions targets.
Since the Paris agreement, Exxon has received net tax repayments of £360m on its North Sea operations, BP £490m, and Shell £400m, rounded to the nearest 10 million.
