WorldStage Newsonline– Shell Plc on Thursday published its 2024 Payments to Governments Report with $5,336,840,193 paid to government in Nigeria, the largest to any country out of the $28,095,510,413 paid globally.
This represents an increase of 8.54% from $4.92 billion paid in 2023.
Other countries that received high payments next to Nigeria, according to the report are Oman $4,588,673,819 and Brazil $3,697,940,247.
The payments to Nigeria according to the report are for production entitlements $3,804,949,166; taxes $648,734,398; royalties $780,231,463; and fees $102,925,166.
Further breakdown of the payments showed that Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) received $648,734,398 as taxes; National Agency For Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASEI) received $3,931,917 as fees; Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) received $97,260,899 as fees; Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) received $3,804,949,166 as production entitlements; while Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) received $780,231,463 as royalties and $1,732,350 as fees.
The report provides a consolidated overview of the payments to governments made by Shell plc and its subsidiary undertakings (Shell) for the year 2024, as required under the UK’s Reports on Payments to Governments Regulations 2014 (as amended in December 2015).
In line with the Regulations, the report only covers extractive activities and payments equal to or above the £86,000 or equivalent materiality threshold, resulting in payments made to governments in 24 countries being included.
“Our operations generate revenue through taxes and royalties for governments around the world. These taxes and royalties are often used by governments to fund essential public services like education, transport and healthcare,” the report said.
“Since 2016 Shell has made mandatory disclosures under the UK’s Reports on Payments to Governments Regulations 2014 (as amended in December 2015). We have published the revenues that our operations generate through taxes and royalties on a voluntary basis since 2012. We believe that being open about our tax payments helps people to understand how much we pay and why.
“In 2024, Shell paid $18.2 billion in taxes to governments. We paid $12.5 billion in corporate income taxes ($0.5 billion of which were withholding taxes) and $5.7 billion in government royalties.”
Shell On 13 March, 2025 completed the sale of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), to Renaissance. Completion followed approvals from the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Shell remaining businesses in Nigeria include Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) and Shell Nigeria Gas Ltd (SNG).
SNEPCo pioneered deep-water oil and gas production from the Bonga field in the Gulf of Guinea where depths reach more than 1,000 metres. When Bonga began production in 2005, it increased Nigeria’s oil production capacity by 10%. Today, nearly one-third of Nigeria’s deep-water production comes from the Bonga and Erha fields.
SNG is a fully owned Shell company incorporated in 1998 for the downstream distribution of gas to industries in Nigeria. It currently operates a growing world class gas transmission and distribution network of over 138km across the country.
