Oil giant Shell announced on Tuesday that it plans to withdraw from Russian oil and gas “gradually, in line with new government guidelines” in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement, Shell specified that, “as an immediate first step, the group will stop all spot purchases in the Russian oil market” and “close its service stations and its aviation fuel and lubricant activities in Russia”. .
“Our actions to date have been guided by ongoing discussions with governments about the need to decouple the company from Russian energy flows, while maintaining energy supply,” said Shell CEO Ben van Beurden.
The group is “changing [su] supply chain in crude oil to withdraw Russian volumes,” he added.
However, he warned that given the “physical location and availability of alternatives,” the effort “could take weeks.”
“It’s a complex challenge” that “will require concerted action between governments, energy providers and consumers,” he said.
“These social changes bring to light the dilemma of putting pressure on the Russian government for its atrocities in Ukraine and ensuring a stable and secure supply of energy in Europe,” Beurden explained.
Despite a series of massive sanctions against Moscow, the energy sector has not been affected so far, especially since Europe is highly dependent on Russian gas, and especially Germany.
On Monday, at a press conference, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that withdrawing from Russian oil and gas is the “right thing to do” but that this had to be done “step by step”.
And the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, expressed himself along the same lines, admitting that “the sad reality is that we are highly dependent on Russian oil and gas” and that such a profound transformation “would take time.”
However, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said Tuesday that Europe “has solutions to become independent of Russian gas” and added that he wants to “accelerate” those solutions in order to “meet the challenge in the winter of 2022- 2023”.
The United States, less dependent on Russian hydrocarbons, is pressuring its European partners to launch sanctions against the Russian energy sector, something that would affect the core of Russia’s income, and prompt Moscow to cease its offensive in Ukraine.
Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, energy prices have soared on the markets. The price of European natural gas has reached record levels and that of crude oil has come close to its all-time highs.
