Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp paid no tax in Australia in the 2016 financial year, the third year in a row, despite reporting billions of dollars in income from operations in the country, a report from the tax office showed on Thursday.Exxon Mobil, which has oil and gas production in the Bass Strait and a stake in the giant Gorgon LNG project among other assets in Australia, reported A$6.7 billion ($5.0 billion) in income, but it reported a loss for taxable income and paid no tax, similar to the previous two years.
Exxon said it had no taxable income as it has invested nearly A$18 billion over the past few years on major projects including Gorgon and the Kipper Tuna Turrum field."As these multi-billion investments were completed in 2017 and have started production, the amount of tax paid by ExxonMobil Australia is anticipated to increase significantly," said Travis Parnaby, a spokesman for the oil major. Chevron reported A$2.1 billion in income for 2016 and paid no tax.
-Reuters, Melbourne