The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that 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 (all figures U.S.). A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says that the disclosures from Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips 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. About 90 per cent 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. Chevron, meanwhile, paid $14.6-billion to foreign governments in 2023, including $4-billion to Australia alone, according to the filings. For ConocoPhillips, just $1.3-billion of a total $6.5-billion in total global payments last year went to the U.S.