By Tim McLaughlin

Sept 30 (Reuters) - The three largest U.S. energy

exploration companies paid more than $42 billion to foreign

governments last year, about eight times more than what they

paid in the United States, according to regulatory filings.

The disclosures from Exxon Mobil ( XOM ), Chevron Corp ( CVX )

, and ConocoPhillips ( COP ) were required this year for

the first time ever under a new Securities and Exchange

Commission requirement.

Transparency advocates had been pushing for the rule for

more than a decade to shine a light on Big Oil's foreign

financial transactions in its global quest for oil, and provide

a sense of whether U.S. taxpayers are getting a fair share of

the value of soaring U.S. production.

The United States has become the world's largest oil and gas

producer in recent years, thanks mainly to a boom in the massive

Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico.

"The truth is, here in the U.S., we get one of the worst

deals for the extraction of our natural resources," said

Michelle Harrison, deputy general counsel for EarthRights

International, an environmental advocacy group.

About 90% of Exxon's nearly $25 billion in global payments

went to foreign governments in 2023, even though close to a

quarter of Exxon's global exploration and production earnings

come from the United States.

The Texas-based oil giant paid out $22.5 billion in taxes,

royalties and other items overseas, with the United Arab

Emirates ($7.4 billion), Indonesia ($4.6 billion) and Malaysia

($3.2 billion) topping the list, according to the disclosures.

By contrast, Exxon made about $2.3 billion in U.S.-based

payments in 2023, including just $1.2 billion to the U.S.

Internal Revenue Service, according to Exxon's report.

Exxon's U.S.-based upstream earnings totaled $4.2 billion,

compared to $17.1 billion in non-U.S. markets, according to

Exxon's 2023 annual report.

In the preamble of Exxon's SEC report, the company

complained that comparisons between U.S. and overseas payments

were not fair and said U.S. government payments totaled $6.6

billion last year when you include more than $4 billion in state

and local taxes omitted by the regulations.

Exxon declined to comment further.

Chevron ( CVX ), meanwhile, paid $14.6 billion to foreign

governments in 2023, including $4 billion to Australia alone,

according to the filings. The company paid just $2 billion in

the U.S., according to the filings.

A Chevron ( CVX ) spokesperson said the company's overhead in the

U.S. can be much lower than in overseas oil fields.

Chevron's ( CVX ) holdings in the Permian Basin, for example, total

about 2.2 million acres with about 75% of that land connected to

either low or no royalty payments. Chevron ( CVX ) executives see that

as a huge advantage and one that creates shareholder value,

according to presentations by the company.

Last year, most of Chevron's ( CVX ) upstream profits were from

international markets - at $17.4 billion compared to $4.1

billion in the United States - according to Chevron's ( CVX ) 2023

annual report.

Chevron ( CVX ) did not criticize the disclosure parameters in its

filing, and told Reuters it would continue to work with relevant

agencies toward transparency and accountability between

governments and the industry.

For ConocoPhillips ( COP ), just $1.3 billion of a total $6.5

billion in total global payments last year went to the U.S.,

according to the disclosures.

The company declined to comment.

Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act opened the door for the

new disclosures around overseas activities by energy exploration

and production companies.

A divided SEC adopted the rules in 2020 in a 3-2 vote, as

the burgeoning ESG movement, which focuses on environmental,

social and governance matters, demanded more transparency on

behalf of millions of U.S. investors.

The adoption of the rule, however, came after a pitched

years-long battle: A federal court in 2013 vacated the SEC's

first attempt at imposing the mandate, and Congress blocked a

second attempt in 2017.

Company US payments Overseas ($B) Total ($B)

($B)

Exxon $2.3 $22.5 $24.8

Chevron $2.0 $14.6 $16.6

ConocoPhillips $1.3 $5.2 $6.5

Total $5.8 $42.3 $47.9