Irish arm of Equinor benefited from soaring gas prices before it completed deal with Vermilion Energy last year

The Irish arm of Norwegian state-owned Equinor paid out a dividend of €350m last year before finalising the sale of its 36.5pc share of Corrib Gas to Vermilion Energy.

The sale to the Canadian energy firm completed on March 31 last year and new accounts for Equinor Energy Ireland Ltd show that the €350m dividend was paid out in the first quarter of last year to parent and Norwegian government-owned Equinor ASA.

The accounts show that Equinor Energy Ireland Ltd benefited from soaring gas prices in 2022 as revenues from its Corrib gas sales increased by 39pc from €304.18m to €422.27m.

The firm recorded pre-tax profits of €221.89m and was liable to an EU energy windfall corporation tax bill of €54.66m on its profits.

The temporary solidarity contribution was introduced as an emergency intervention by the EU in October 2022 to address high energy prices as a result of the war in Ukraine, with consumers being hit by much higher bills for gas and electricity.

The Government here has estimated that the tax will raise in the range of €200m to €450m.

Along with the windfall tax bill of €54.66m, Equinor Energy Ireland was also subject to a 25pc corporation tax rate totalling €55.47m, showing that it was liable to a cumulative corporation tax bill of €110.13m.

However, the company’s corporation tax bill for 2022 was reduced to €7.18m.

This was after the company was able to utilise a deferred tax credit of €47.48m and use of tax losses totalling €48.72m.

The profits for 2022 take account of non-cash depreciation costs of €53.14m.

The directors report for Equinor Energy Ireland says that in 2022, “there was significant price volatility, primarily triggered by high economic growth and subsequent supply chain bottlenecks on the back of measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic”.

The directors say that “climate change in general, the energy transition, governmental regulations and policies, and the world’s reach of the climate targets set out in the Paris Agreement, could either together or independently influence oil and natural gas prices”.

A breakdown of revenues shows that €310.21m revenues were generated here and €112.06m was sold to the “rest of Europe”.

On environmental matters, the directors say that the company “works continuously to limit greenhouse emissions and ensure that the Corrib project is engineered in such a way as to minimise future emissions from related plant and machinery”.

They say that “Equinor Energy Ireland Limited activities are guided by the principle of zero harm to the environment. The board considers it very important to find industrial solutions that safeguard the natural environment”.

Before the dividend payout, the firm had accumulated profits of €666.3m at the end of December 2022. No dividend was paid out in 2022.

As a result of the deal with Vermilion, the Canadian firm became the country’s largest provider of domestic natural gas here, giving it an operating interest of 56.5pc in Corrib.

Vermilion paid out C$488.89m (€331.7m) in cash for the 36.5pc share of the business. The Corrib gas field contributes up to 29pc of Ireland’s natural gas consumption and 100pc of the country’s gas production, and is located about 83km off Co Mayo’s coast.

Reporting On:independent.ie