8 mar 22
Fil d'Actus

Shell withdraws from Russia and apologises for buying Russian crude oil

Shell withdraws from Russia and apologises for buying Russian crude oil

Oil giant Shell has today announced plans to withdraw from Russian oil and gas and close all its service stations in the Federation.

The announcement comes just days after the company found itself on the receiving end of condemnation and having to apologise for buying a cargo of Russian crude oil to guarantee UK supplies. It also comes a week after Shell stated it would exit its joint ventures with Russian state energy firm Gazprom because of its military action in Ukraine.

Shell won’t buy Russian crude oil

The FTSE 100 company says it will immediately stop buying Russian crude oil on the spot market and not renew term contracts. Changes to its crude oil stocks will also remove Russian supplies but this could take weeks to complete. Shell refineries are currently supplied with around 8% of crude oil from Russia.

In a statement, Shell chief executive, Ben van Beurden, said: “We are acutely aware that our decision last week to purchase a cargo of Russian crude oil to be refined into products like petrol and diesel – despite being made with security of supplies at the forefront of our thinking – was not the right one and we are sorry.”

Image: Shutterstock

Authored by: Alison Pittaway