London, May 14, 2026, 14:04 (BST)
- Shell reported $23.84 billion in payments to governments for oil, gas, and mineral extraction for 2025.
- Shell’s annual meeting is coming up in five days, with investors set to weigh in on a climate disclosure resolution—the report drops just ahead of that vote.
- Shell’s country-by-country table shows Brazil, Oman and Norway topping the list of recipients.
Shell Plc reported $23.84 billion in payments to governments for 2025, a new tally of tax, royalty, and production remittances tied to its vast oil and gas operations, just ahead of a high-profile shareholder meeting.
Timing comes into play here. Shell’s annual general meeting is set for May 19 in London, where a Follow This climate resolution will go to a vote. Investors are being asked how Shell’s plan stacks up if oil and gas demand drops. The company, though, is telling shareholders to vote it down.
The payments report focuses on extractive operations—think oil, gas, and minerals exploration and production. According to Shell, refining, natural gas liquefaction, and gas-to-liquids aren’t part of the disclosure. Payments from joint-controlled entities are also off the table.
Brazil topped the list, pulling in $4.25 billion. Oman came next at $3.99 billion, with Norway at $3.77 billion. The filing also put Qatar at $2.91 billion, Malaysia at $2.38 billion, and Nigeria at $2.02 billion.
The breakdown: $10.04 billion in taxes, $8.04 billion from production entitlements, $3.77 billion in royalties, $360.6 million in bonuses and $1.63 billion in fees. Production entitlements represent the host government’s cut of output. Royalties, on the other hand, are paid for extraction rights.
Shell released its climate and energy transition lobbying report this day. The company put its effective tax rate for 2025 at 39%, noting that’s nearly double the OECD average country effective tax rate of 20.5%.
This disclosure comes after Shell posted a robust first quarter: adjusted earnings landed at $6.92 billion, as reported last week. The company bumped its dividend up 5%, though it trimmed its quarterly buyback program to $3 billion from $3.5 billion. Disruption in the Middle East stirred up volatility, giving Shell a lift but also denting output.
Shell CEO Wael Sawan pointed to “unprecedented disruption in global energy markets” as the backdrop for what he called strong quarterly results. The oil major reported cash flow from operations excluding working capital at $17.2 billion. Working capital swung by $11.2 billion, hit by wild moves in commodity prices. Shell
Chief Financial Officer Sinead Gorman attributed the dividend hike to “confidence we have in the long-term cash flows of the company,” according to Reuters. On the analyst side, Citi’s Alastair Syme argued the adjustment from dividends to buybacks should have happened sooner. Reuters
Shell continues to ride favorable sector trends. According to Reuters, European energy companies posted sharply higher first-quarter earnings as the Iran war pushed oil prices up. Shell, BP, and TotalEnergies saw a bigger boost from robust oil trading than their U.S. rivals.
Over the past two days, Shell has acted on a handful of smaller supply and portfolio moves. Bulgargaz tapped Shell for a U.S.-sourced liquefied natural gas shipment—gas cooled into liquid for easier transport—set to arrive in Turkey at the end of May. In a separate development, Les Echos reported Shell is looking to offload around 60 petrol stations along French highways. When asked by Reuters, Shell would not comment.
There’s a flip side to the volatility currently favoring trading desks. Shell is bracing for a steep drop in second-quarter integrated gas output, citing Middle East turmoil and Qatar disruptions. If oil prices keep slipping, that’s going to put future buybacks under pressure—and could sap the cash flows backing the government payouts in view.
