Shell stopped buying Russian crude, aiming to phase out its involvement in all Russian hydrocarbons from oil to natural gas over Ukraine.
Shell had apologized on March 8 for buying Russian oil after it had said it would pull out of its Russian operations.
We are acutely aware that our decision last week to purchase a cargo of Russian crude oil was not the right one and we are sorry
Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden said.
Shell would also change its crude oil supply chain to remove volumes from Russia “as fast as possible”, says Reuters, shutting down its service stations in Russia, as well as its aviation fuels and lubricants operations in the country.
In addition, the company noted that the supply chain change could take weeks to complete and would lead to reduced output from some of its refineries while its withdrawal from Russian petroleum products, pipeline gas and LNG would be phased.
The company now plans to end its involvement in the Nord Stream 2 Baltic gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany, which it helped finance as a part of a consortium.
Moreover, British rival BP said last month it was abandoning its 19.75% stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft in an move that could cost it up to $25 billion. In a similar mover, TotalEnergies stopped buying oil from Russia, although one of its landlocked refineries in Germany continued to receive Russian crude by pipeline.
In the meantime, U.S. President Joe Biden imposed an immediate ban on Russian oil and other energy imports in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine, amid strong support from American voters and lawmakers, even though the move will increase U.S. energy prices.
The ban goes into effect immediately, but gives buyers 45 days to wind down existing contracts, a senior administration official told reporters.
According to Reuters, the move also bans new U.S. investment in Russia’s energy sector, and prohibits Americans from taking part in any foreign investments that flow into the Russian energy sector.
