Shell announced on Tuesday that it will quit importing Russian oil and natural gas, as well as close its service stations, aviation fuels, and other activities in the country, in response to international pressure to cut relations over Ukraine’s invasion.
In a statement, the business stated that it will exit from all Russian hydrocarbons, including crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas, and liquefied natural gas, “in a phased manner.”
The move comes as oil prices continue to soar, and just days after Ukraine’s foreign minister slammed Shell for continuing to buy Russian oil, lashing out at the corporation for doing business with President Vladimir Putin’s regime.
“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 the security of supplies at the forefront of our thinking — was not the right one and we are sorry,” CEO Ben van Beurden said. “As we have already said, we will commit profits from the limited, remaining amounts of Russian oil we will process to a dedicated fund.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated Friday that Shell had “discreetly” purchased the oil and urged the people to put pressure on the corporation and other foreign firms to stop similar purchases.
“One question to Shell: doesn’t Russian oil smell (like) Ukrainian blood for you?” Kuleba stated this on Twitter. “I call on all conscious people around the globe to demand multinational companies to cut all business ties with Russia.”
Shell announced last week that it was “shocked by the loss of life in Ukraine” and that it will stop its joint ventures with Gazprom, the Russian government’s major oil and gas firm.
