Shell completely withdraws from Russia: no longer buys oil and gas, sells all gas stations

Shell says it will immediately stop buying Russian oil. Existing contracts will not be renewed. Last week, Shell oil traders bought a batch of Russian oil that was on offer at a huge discount. The company has received a lot of criticism for this.

“We are fully aware that while this decision was made with delivery insurance as the most important consideration, it was not the right one,” said CEO Ben van Beurden. After the criticism, Shell announced that it will donate the profits of that batch of oil to charities that help the Ukrainian population and refugees.

At the same time, Shell will transfer supply lines to its refineries to ensure they can continue to operate without Russian oil. The company warns that this could take weeks. Production could be lower during that period.

gas stations

Shell will also immediately close gas stations in Russia, as well as sell jet fuel and lubricants. The previously announced withdrawal of liquefied natural gas, pipelines and petroleum products is also in progress, but in phases. Moreover, according to Shell, this requires coordination between governments, energy suppliers and customers, so the transition to other energy suppliers will take much longer than other steps Shell is taking to reduce relations with Russia.

Van Beurden notes that Shell’s actions to date have been guided by the search for a balance between leaving Russia and maintaining security of supplies. “Threats about closing gas pipelines through Russia illustrate the difficult choices and potential consequences we face as we try to do so.” Ultimately, however, it will be up to governments to decide which “extremely difficult trade-offs” to make during the war in Ukraine, Shell believes.