(Corrects Shell CFO name in paragraph 4 to Simon Henry, notHenry Simon)
LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden will earn a total 24.2 millioneuros ($26 million) for 2014, making him one of thehighest-earning FTSE 100 bosses despite last year's sharp fallin oil prices.
Van Beurden's total pay includes 5.6 million euros insalary, bonus and shares plus pension and other items, thecompany said on Thursday.
His 2014 compensation, when calculated in British pounds,places him as the second-highest-paid senior executive on theFTSE 100 share index after WPP chief executive MartinSorrell, whose 2013 pay package reached 29.8 million pounds,according to think tank High Pay Centre.
Shell chief financial officer Simon Henry's totalremuneration rose by 46 percent in 2014 from a year earlier to6.485 million euros.
Van Beurden was appointed to the top position on Jan. 1,2014 and his prior year's salary was not disclosed.
The pay levels could revive investor protest after earningsper share in 2014 declined by around 8.5 percent to $2.38 pershare.
"Van Beurden is doing quite well at a time when the oilprice is going down," said Deborah Hargreaves, High Pay Centredirector.
"Is there an argument that if he is rewarded when the oilprice goes up, he should sacrifice some of that reward when theoil price goes down? I think it is one-sided. There is a lot ofupside and not much downside."
Shell spokeswoman Sally Donaldson said van Beurden's totalfigure, published in the company's annual report, was "unusuallyhigh" because it included a variety of extra payments related tohis long service with Shell and tax payments.
"This is not the same as this year's 'take home pay',"Donaldson told Reuters in a statement.
"His promotion to CEO, combined with his prior expatriationfrom the Netherlands to the UK, have resulted in the 'singlefigure' which we have published today, but it's important to putthis figure in appropriate context."
BP said this month Chief Executive Bob Dudley's totalcompensation rose by more than 20 percent to $12.74 million in2014.
Shell's earnings on a current cost of supplies basis rose to$19 billion in 2014 from $17 billion a year earlier, despite thenear halving in oil prices in the second half of the year.
European oil majors have long argued that they have to payhigh salaries to retain talented people who otherwise mightleave for higher-paying U.S. firms.
By comparison, Rex Tillerson, the long-serving chiefexecutive of Exxon Mobil, earned $40 million in 2012,falling to $28 million in 2013. Chevron's chief John Watson'scompensation also fell to $24 million in 2013 from $32.2 millionin 2012.
Shell, Europe's largest oil major, has traditionally beenamong the best paying companies. It paid over $20 million to itsprevious CEO Peter Voser in 2012 but halved his remuneration to$11.24 million in 2013 following what the company described as adisappointing performance.
($1 = 0.9421 euros) (Additional reporting by Christopher Johnson; editing by JasonNeely/Ruth Pitchford)
