Shell boss says taxing energy firms to help the poor is 'inevitable'

Taxes on firms within the oil and gas industry are "inevitable" to help the poorest people, the outgoing boss of Shell has said.

Ben van Beurden said that energy markets cannot behave in a way that "damage a significant part of society".

The UK government under Liz Truss has pushed back against extending a windfall tax on oil and gas firms.

But the EU has agreed emergency measures to charge energy firms on record profits.

Households in the UK have been under pressure from rising energy bills, after the war in Ukraine and the economic recovery from Covid pushed up energy prices.

But speaking to an oil industry event, Mr van Beurden said: "You cannot have a market that behaves in such a way - logically and effectively and everything else - that it's going to damage a significant part of society."