Local content

We want to make a positive difference to countries and local communities where we operate. We do this by creating jobs, training people, supporting local businesses and buying goods and services from local suppliers – collectively referred to as local content.

In 2022, 83.3% of the $41.5 billion we spent on goods and services was purchased from suppliers based in the same country of operation, also called local procurement. About 61% of our procurement was in Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the USA, of which 81.9% was spent with local suppliers in these countries.

We estimate that around $5 billion was spent in countries that, according to the UN Development Programme’s Human Development Index 2021, have a gross national income of less than $15,000 a year per person. In these countries, Shell companies spent around 89.8%, or about $4.6 billion, with local suppliers.

In 2022, we initiated and completed a local content measurement and reporting project with Ipieca, the global oil and gas industry association, that provides guidance for operators, contractors and governments on how to best measure the impacts and outcomes of local content practices. The guidelines will be rolled out throughout the industry in 2023.

We have also developed a new self-assessment guide that enables us to employ best local content practice throughout the duration of new projects. We began applying the guide in 2022 on the Holland Hydrogen I project in the Netherlands, which will be Europe’s largest renewable hydrogen plant when production starts in 2025.

Discover more about how we work to support the countries in which we operate in the Community skills and entrepreneurship section and at www.shell.com/sustainability/communities/local-employment-and-enterprise.