A former North Sea boss received more than £850,000 in compensation from oil giant Shell after the value of his home fell.
The payment to Malcolm Brinded, who left the group last year after almost 40 years’ service, emerged in the company’s annual report.
Mr Brinded was latterly head of Shell’s international upstream business.
The company says in the report: “After his relocation to the Netherlands in 2002, Malcolm Brinded received an indemnity on the house that Shell requested him to buy in the Netherlands.
“The indemnity entailed that, should a Shell-initiated transfer result in the sale of this home at a loss, it would compensate him.”
Mr Brinded returned to the UK last April and marketed the home, which is close to the Shell HQ in The Hague and originally cost him £2.9million.
Last November, after no buyers emerged, Shell bought the house for £2million, calculated as the average of three independent valuations.
Since this was lower than the original purchase price, the company made a payment to Mr Brinded of more than £850,000 to compensate him for the difference between the final sale price and the original purchase price.
Shell has denied it was a “golden goodbye”.
The annual report also shows Mr Brinded’s pension pot at Shell was worth more than £17million at the end of last year.
One North Sea union leader said last night that Mr Brinded’s financial rewards were “shocking”.
Jake Molloy, of the RMT union, said: “This sends all the wrong messages to the troops. Every contractor is coming under pressure from operators to cut costs, yet here we see this boss walking away with millions.”
Mr Molloy was critical of Mr Brinded’s track record in the North Sea in terms of performance, productivity and safety. Mr Brinded was 37 years with the group, including being Shell Expro managing director in Aberdeen from 1998-2001.
He became head of the group’s core exploration and production operation in 2004 during a turbulent period for Shell.
It had shocked investors when it slashed its proved oil and gas reserves; a revelation which led to the sacking of Sir Philip Watts, who was chairman at the time, and oil and gas chief Walter van de Vijver.
Mr Brinded, who was made a CBE for his services to the oil industry in 2001, joined the company in 1974 after graduating in engineering from Cambridge University.