It confirmed it would exit all its Russian operations in the wake of BP abandoning its stake in Rosneft – a move that could cost the British company £18billion. Shell said it would quit the flagship Sakhalin-2 LNG plant, in which it holds a 27.5percent stake and which is 50 percent owned and operated by Gazprom – one of the world’s biggest extractors of natural gas. The company also plans to end its involvement in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany, which it helped finance as a part of a consortium of companies.
Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said: “We are shocked by the loss of life in Ukraine, which we deplore, resulting from a senseless act of military aggression that threatens European security. We cannot – and we will not – stand by.”
BP’s shares slumped by four percent, wiping billions of pounds off its value, following its announcement.
Chief executive Bernard Looney said he had resigned “with immediate effect” from the Rosneft board as had fellow director Bob Dudley.
Rosneft claimed 30 years of successful co-operation had been ruined and blamed BP’s decision on “unprecedented political pressure”.
Its chairman Igor Sechin is a close friend of President Vladimir Putin.
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