Governments should tax energy companies to help the poorest people deal with soaring bills but shouldn’t step in to cap gas prices, according to the boss of Shell.
Speaking at an energy conference in London, Ben van Beurden said: “One way or another there needs to be government intervention.
“Protecting the poorest, that probably may then mean that governments need to tax people in this room to pay for it.”
The EU last week reached an agreement on an initial energy package, including a windfall tax on companies. It has also been discussing a cap on the price of natural gas and power.
But Mr van Beurden criticised the latter approach, saying that companies like Shell would struggle to bring extra supplies of natural gas to Europe if a price incentive wasn’t there.
He said: “We will do our best to bring gas to Europe where it’s needed, but if the market signal is not there it’s going to be really challenging.”
The Shell chief, who will step down at the start of next year, also said he “struggled” to see how a price cap on Russian oil would work.
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