Shell pays chief Van Beurden £10m for his final year

SHELL’S former chief executive was handed a 52pc pay rise in his final year in charge after soaring oil and gas prices helped the company to record profits.

Ben van Beurden, who stepped down at the end of last year, was paid £9.7m for 2022, including cash and share bonuses worth £7.5m. His package rose from £6.3m in 2021.

The 64-year-old’s annual bonus was based on Shell’s financial, operational and safety performance, as well as its progress moving towards cleaner energy. The company’s profits more than doubled to a record $40bn (£33bn) last year on the back of climbing oil and gas prices, which surged in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The pay committee said Shell had delivered cash flow from operations of $68bn, well above its threshold for “outstanding performance” of $45bn.

The FTSE 100 company’s profits last year triggered criticism at a time when households were struggling with record high energy bills.

Shell’s pay committee said: “It is worth repeating that the committee has long had a policy of not adjusting remuneration measures to take account of changes in energy prices.”

More than one third of the chief executive’s annual bonus was dependent on financial performance, while another 35pc was based on operational performance, 15pc was on energy transition and 15pc on safety.

The company said it had cut emissions by two million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, ahead of target, through measures such as using more clean electricity and cutting flaring.

Its annual emissions dipped by about 10pc to 1.2bn tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, Reuters calculated.

Governments around the world have introduced windfall taxes in response to record profits. In the UK, the tax rate on North Sea oil and gas drillers has increased from 40pc to 75pc.

Mr Van Beurden, who ran Shell from 2014 to 2022, has been replaced by Wael Sawan.