((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto)) by Tim McLaughlin
The three largest U.S. energy exploration companies paid more than $42 billion to foreign governments last year, about eight times more than they paid to the United States, according to regulatory filings .
Reports from Exxon Mobil XOM.N , Chevron Corp CVX.N and ConocoPhillips COP.N were required this year for the first time under a new requirement from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Transparency advocates have been calling for the rule for more than a decade to shed light on the overseas financial dealings of major oil companies in their global quest for oil and determine whether U.S. taxpayers are receiving a fair share of the value. of American production rising sharply.
In recent years, the United States has become the world’s largest producer of oil and gas, largely thanks to the boom in the massive Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico.
“The truth is that here in the United States we have one of the worst deals for the extraction of our natural resources,” said Michelle Harrison, deputy general counsel of EarthRights International, a group defense of the environment.
About 90% of Exxon’s roughly $25 billion in global payments went to foreign governments in 2023, while nearly a quarter of Exxon’s global exploration and production revenues come from the United States. United.
The Texas oil giant paid $22.5 billion in taxes, royalties and other items abroad, the United Arab Emirates ($7.4 billion), Indonesia ($4.6 billion) and the Malaysia ($3.2 billion) tops the list, according to declarations.
In contrast, Exxon made about $2.3 billion in payments to the United States in 2023, including only $1.2 billion to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, according to the Exxon report.
Exxon’s U.S.-based upstream revenues totaled $4.2 billion, compared to $17.1 billion in non-U.S. markets, according to Exxon’s 2023 annual report.
In the preamble to Exxon’s report to the SEC, the company complains that comparisons between U.S. and foreign payments are not fair and says U.S. government payments totaled $6.6 billion. dollars last year when including more than $4 billion in state and local taxes omitted by regulations.
Exxon declined to comment further.
Chevron, meanwhile, paid $14.6 billion to foreign governments in 2023, including $4 billion to Australia alone, filings show. The company paid just $2 billion to the United States, according to filings.
A Chevron spokesperson said the company’s overhead costs in the United States can be much lower than in overseas oil fields.
Chevron’s holdings in the Permian Basin, for example, total about 2.2 million acres, 75 percent of which are tied to low or no royalty payments. Chevron executives view this as a significant benefit that creates value for shareholders, according to company presentations.
Last year, most of Chevron’s upstream profits came from international markets ($17.4 billion, compared to $4.1 billion in the United States), according to Chevron’s 2023 annual report.
Chevron did not criticize the disclosure settings in its report and told Reuters it would continue to work with relevant agencies to ensure transparency and accountability between governments and industry.
For ConocoPhillips, only $1.3 billion of a total of $6.5 billion in global payments last year went to the United States, according to the filings.
The company declined to comment.
Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act opened the way for the release of new information on the overseas activities of energy exploration and production companies.
The divided SEC adopted the rules in 2020 in a 3-2 vote, as the burgeoning ESG movement, which focuses on environmental, social and governance issues, demanded more transparency from millions of investors. American investors.
The rule’s adoption, however, came after a bitter, years-long battle: In 2013, a federal court struck down the SEC’s first attempt to impose the mandate, and Congress blocked a second attempt in 2017.
Overseas Payments Company ($B) Total ($B)
United States ($B)
Exxon $2.3 $22.5 $24.8
Chevron $2.0 $14.6 $16.6
ConocoPhillips $1.3 $5.2 $6.5
Total $5.8 $42.3 $47.9
