Shell may have paid no tax on its profits in the Netherlands for the past five years, but the oil giant has reeled in €10m in government subsidies over the same period, according to research by RTLZ.

Last year alone, Shell brought in €3.4m in subsidies from several government ministries, while earning over €20bn in net profit, RTLZ said.

Of the 2018 benefits, €1.5m came from the economic affairs ministry as compensation for high energy bills under the European ETS scheme.

Ugly

The same ministry also gave Shell nearly €98,000 to support a carbon capture programme and twice nearly €900,000 to develop hydrogen fuel stations.

Socialist MP Renske Leijten described the findings as ‘ugly’.

The green subsidies, she said, are to help projects and companies which cannot finance such research, not highly profitable firms, earning their fortunes from fossil fuels.