The three largest U.S. energy exploration companies paid more than US$42-billion to foreign governments last year, about eight times more than what they paid in the United States, according to regulatory filings.Transparency advocates had been pushing for the rule for more than a decade to shine a light on Big Oil’s foreign financial transactions in its global quest for oil, and provide a sense of whether U.S. taxpayers are getting a fair share of the value of soaring U.S. production.
About 90 per cent of Exxon’s nearly US$25-billion in global payments went to foreign governments in 2023, even though close to a quarter of Exxon’s global exploration and production earnings come from the United States. Exxon’s U.S.-based upstream earnings totalled US$4.2-billion, compared to US$17.1-billion in non-U.S. markets, according to Exxon’s 2023 annual report.
Chevron’s holdings in the Permian Basin, for example, total about 2.2 million acres with about 75 per cent of that land connected to either low or no royalty payments. Chevron executives see that as a huge advantage and one that creates shareholder value, according to presentations by the company. For ConocoPhillips, just US$1.3-billion of a total US$6.5-billion in total global payments last year went to the U.S., according to the disclosures.Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act opened the door for the new disclosures around overseas activities by energy exploration and production companies.