Big payout for Shell and ExxonMobil from NAM holding

Shell and ExxonMobil, the two shareholders in Dutch gas production company NAM, split €496m in dividend payments in 2016. This was revealed in NAM’s first-ever published annual report on Friday, the Financieele Dagblad said.

This marked the first time that it was made clear just how much the two oil giants earn from gas production in the Netherlands. NAM reported net revenues of €3.4bn in 2016. But NAM released no comparable profit and sales figures for previous years.

NAM’s profit is determined after a payment of about €3bn to the Dutch government. Only a small portion of the earnings is used to strengthen its buffers, and shareholders’ equity is only €197m on a balance sheet total of €5bn. NAM’s solvency is below 4%, extraordinarily low by international standards, the FD said.

That is more than necessary, according to NAM CFO Anton Broers. NAM has hardly any debt. ‘In addition we have a credit facility of more than €1bn in place by our shareholders. We did  not need to call on it last year,’ he said.

NAM has €3.4bn earmarked for provisions on its balance sheet. A small portion of this, 15% or €495m, is reserved for claims made against the company for earthquake damage.