Shell executives struggled through a combative parliamentary hearing, repeatedly clashing with senators and warning a new export levy or windfall tax would be “spectacularly ill-advised”.
Thu 23 Apr 2026 16.00
Photo: AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Shell executives struggled through a combative parliamentary hearing, repeatedly clashing with senators and warning a new export levy or windfall tax would be “spectacularly ill-advised”.
Frustrations boiled over as two Shell representatives failed to answer key questions on export volumes and revenue, while the inquiry examined how the country taxes its gas exports.
When pressed by ACT Senator David Pocock on the gas giant’s revenue for the last financial year, Shell’s Asia-Pacific head of tax, Coralie Trotter, responded, “I don’t have the revenue numbers in front of me”.
Gas companies have consistently argued higher taxes risk undermining energy security and future supply, particularly amid global instability and rising demand.
Shell Australia chair Cecile Wake said it would render growth projects “uneconomic, uninvestable”.
With no revenue figure, Senator Pocock pressed on to ask, “How much offshore LNG does Shell export from Commonwealth waters?”
“Senator, may I take that on notice because I want to make sure that I’m really accurate on it,” replied Ms Wake.
“So, you don’t know how much is exported from Gorgon and Prelude?” he asked.
“I’m very happy to provide it to you on notice. I’m sorry I don’t have it at my fingertips,” she replied.
Stumped, Senator Pocock took aim at the lack of basic figures, pressing the point “You can’t tell me revenue, and you can’t actually tell me how much gas you’re exporting from Australia.”
“What did you think we were going to be asking you today?” Senator Sarah Hanson-Young asked sharply.
“I thought you were going to be asking me about tax, Senator,” Ms Wake responded.
The Shell Australia chair said the Gorgon LNG project paid $109 million in Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) in the last financial year, while Ms Trotter confirmed Shell Australia’s profit was $2.5 billion before tax.
“Gorgon has operated since 2016 though,” pointed out Senator Pocock. “So, I’m interested how much revenue has Gorgon generated?”
Ms Wake did not know, nor did she say how much gas the operation sold from 2016 to 2025.
Ms Trotter said it had not paid any PRRT for the past decade, arguing “we were constructing projects and ramping up through startup where the revenues were not in excess of zero dollars.”
However, that doesn’t mean that it didn’t earn revenue throughout that time.
The executives warned that even policy debate can create uncertainty for long-term projects.
Ms Wake said Shell had been “fully compliant with our corporate income” and invested US$60 billion over the decade.
“It is not unreasonable to be able to recover that investment before you start paying a profits-based tax,” she said.
“Ms Wake, how come you can tell me how much you invested, but not how much gas you sold on that project?” asked Senator Pocock.
“Because you’ve asked me a very specific question on a single project, and I’ve given you an aggregated number across all of the projects that we have,” she replied.
“So, what’s the aggregated number for how much Australian gas you’ve sold?” he asked.
“I don’t have that number,” she said.
“Again, why can you tell me how much you’ve invested, but not how much you’ve sold? There’s tricky accounting that we hear from the gas industry where you tell us about all the investment, but you’re very quiet on how much gas you’re actually selling,” stated a frustrated Senator Pocock.
The inquiry also heard that Shell Australia contributed $1 million to an Australian Energy Producers (AEP) advertising blitz to opposing any new taxes .
It comes as a proposed 25 per cent gas export tax gains momentum ahead of the May budget, with advocates telling the inquiry Australians are being “sold out” and the government should “tax gas while we can”.
Ms Wake said, to the best of her knowledge, around half a dozen oil and gas companies had contributed to the ad campaign to “counterbalance the very selective and misleading representations of a number of other social commentators”.
“It’s a modest and proportionate amount to spend to put some salient facts in front of the Australian public,” she told the committee.
“I think Punter’s Politics would be pretty stoked to have a million bucks for an ad campaign,” remarked Senator Pocock.
Former schoolteacher and Punter’s Politics founder Konrad Benjamin has been driving an online campaign for a 25 per cent gas export tax, explaining the issues to his one million followers.
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Former Treasury secretary Dr Ken Henry has delivered blunt advice to a Senate inquiry examining the taxation of gas exports. He urged Canberra to overhaul its tax regime, criticising decades of policy settings that have delivered limited public returns. He said a 25 per cent flat tax on gas exports was “a pretty small taxation burden relative to the price increases that have occurred recently.”
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