Oil giant Shell received a £113 million tax refund from the UK Government in 2018.
Shell said the payment was “primarily related” to decommissioning work carried out by its upstream business.
Oil companies build up credits on the taxes they pay during the production life of a field.
They can then use those credits to offset decommissioning costs once the well runs dry.
The Anglo-Dutch firm published the figure in its latest Payments to Governments report, which covers the 34 countries where Shell has upstream operations.
Last year, Shell paid about £50 billion to governments. It stumped up £7.75bn in income taxes and £4.45bn in government royalties.
The company collected £37bn in excise duties, sales taxes and similar levies on our fuel and other products on behalf of governments.
In the UK North Sea, Shell is decommissioning the Brent Field.
In 2017, Shell’s Brent Delta topside was delivered to Able UK’s yard in Hartlepool for dismantling and recycling.
Delta was installed in the Brent field, 115 miles north-east of Shetland, in 1976.
Shell started planning to decommission the field in 2006.
Delta ceased production in 2011, followed by the Alpha and Bravo platforms in 2014.
In January, Shell also confirmed the vessel for its Curlew field in the North Sea would travel to Turkey to be dismantled.
But it will first take the FPSO to Dundee later this year after awarding the contract for cleaning and waste disposal to Augean North Sea Services.
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