UK EITI Payments Report for 2023 details billions paid to UK Government by oil, gas, mining & quarrying companies

Mining & Quarrying / Oil & Gas

Independent review reconciles over £7 billion paid by oil, gas, mining & quarrying companies to the UK Government for the 10th year running.

Every year oil, gas, mining and quarrying companies pay billions of pounds in taxes, fees, levies and licensing payments to UK Government entities. In 2023, they paid £7.6 billion, an increase of more than 10%.    

The latest UK EITI report answers some important questions: 

  • Who pays what? 
  • Which government entities receive the money? 

To improve public understanding and assurance that these payments and receipts align, UK EITI worked with 48 major extractive companies - 35 from the oil and gas sector and 13 mining/quarrying companies operating across the UK and the UK Continental Shelf to collect data on their payments to and repayments from the UK Government in 2023. 

All relevant UK Government departments and agencies in turn disclosed the monies they received and any repayments to those companies. All company and government figures were then reconciled by an independent administrator. The UK EITI Multi-stakeholder Group (MSG), including civil society members, oversee the process to ensure rigour and transparency.

Read the full UK EITI Payments report for 2023 here.

Highlights

  • The new Report provides evidence that sector transparency and governance remain strong.
  • Project-level data enables anyone to assess whether the government receives what it should from each company and project.
  • Extractive revenues rose by £763 million (11%) in 2023 - significantly higher than previous years. The overall increase is mainly due to the Energy Profits Levy (or windfall tax) which increased payments by £2.2 billion.
  • The Oil and Gas sector accounted for £7.50 billion, while Mining and Quarrying contributed £148 million.
  • Overall payments increased despite oil prices falling about 20% and gas prices dropping almost 50%. 
  • 99.08% of relevant payments are captured in the report.
  • Of the total of £7.64 billion reported by government and companies, only £215 or just 0.000003% was unreconciled.
  • All 48 companies also disclosed the people who ultimately own and/or control each company, including 21 companies that are privately held. 

For more information, please get in touch on ukeiti@energysecurity.gov.uk

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