Royal Dutch Shell has come under fire for being part of a consortium [Nigeria NLG Limited] that accepted an “extraordinary” $3.3bn (£2.3bn) tax break in Nigeria – twice the poverty-stricken country’s annual health budget.  

In a new report ActionAid estimated the consortium, which also includes France’s Total and Italy’s Eni, received this benefit between 2004 and 2012 on top of Nigeria’s standard five-year tax holiday to encourage investment. The charity says the cost of the tax breaks could have been better spent on improving health and education systems at the same pace that oil revenue pours in…

Oil and gas has made Nigeria one of the world’s fastest growing economies, but the country suffers from terrible inequality. Around 110 million people live in extreme poverty…

Shell did tell Action Aid, however, that it complies with the tax laws of the countries it operates in.

NLNG said: “The report makes several references to Nigeria LNG Limited and purported tax losses to the government totaling $3.9 billion.  

“This claim is false and misleading. ActionAid admits that its figure is a ‘hypothetical’ one.

“The Federal Government’s initial investment of US$2.5billion, bolstered by the associated tax incentives, has so far yielded over US$ 33 billion in the form of dividends, taxes and feedgas purchases for the country over the past 16 years, with an additional US$ 5 billion accruing through corporate spend on local goods and services during the same period. This is in line with NLNG’s corporate vision to help build a better Nigeria.”