SHELL boss Ben van Beurden hinted yesterday that the energy giant would be open to paying more taxes amid skyrocketing revenues and soaring profits - powered by a Kremlin-fuelled commodities boom following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

He told reporters that interventions such as windfall taxes and support packages are a "societal reality".

He said: "We have to accept that governments will raise taxes for that. We should be prepared to accept our industry will be looked at for raising taxes, to transfer funds to those who need it most in difficult times."

Shell does not expect to pay any further taxes under the Energy Profits Levy this quarter, as it has invested sufficient funds in North Sea oil and gas projects such as the Jackdaw, Pierce and Penguin fields.

This has triggered an investment relief mechanism that has largely offset the windfall tax.

The windfall tax, which was unveiled in May, meant Shell wrote down around $360m in the third quarter to reflect future tax payments.

However, it expects to start paying windfall taxes in the first quarter of next year. This follows the energy giant unveiling another mammoth trading update - reporting hefty profits in its third quarter of £8.1bn ($9.45bn).

The headline numbers were below its record previous quarter earnings this year of £9.9bn ($11.5bn), but are still the second best quarterly results in the company's history.

The latest results have reignited calls from the Labour Party to expand the windfall tax. The opposition has called for the government to backdate the windfall tax to January 2022 and to remove investment relief from the levy.

(c) 2022 City A.M., source Newspaper