Shell gas stations in Russia will stop working in the coming days, knowledgeable Shell Oil LLC Sergey Starodubtsev, general director of the Russian division of the company.
The same applies to the Shell mineral oil factory in Torzhok. Starodubtsev stated that both the gas stations and the plant will be temporarily closed.
According to him, this is due to the sale of the Russian branch to a new owner. The director noted that negotiations on the sale of Shell Oil have not been completed yet.
“The main priority of Shell remains the safety of our employees and production processes, the protection of jobs and compliance with the requirements of Russian legislation,” Starodubtsev said.
The day before, on May 5, a Forbes source said that a buyer has been found for the Russian division of Shell. This has already been reported to the employees of the Russian office, as reported by the addressee of the publication. However, it has not even been revealed exactly who will be the new owner. As the source added, Shell’s headquarters set the condition – the buyer will have to pay salaries to the current employees of the Russian division until the end of the year.
An anonymous participant in the fuel market said that many players, including LUKOIL, are watching Shell gas stations in Russia. An employee of Shell’s Russia office said they see Lukoil as a possible buyer.
Anglo-Dutch oil and gas company Royal Dutch Shell is one of the world leaders in the energy sector. As of September 2021, Shell has 411 car filling stations in Russia, of which 233 are self-owned and 178 are dealers. The capacity of the plant in Torzhok was 200 million liters per year. It produced motor oils, oils for marine engines, industrial oils, hydraulic and transmission oils.
March 8 Shell announced About leaving Russia. The company announced that it will close all gas stations, aviation fuel and lubricant production in Russia. “We will look at the safest way to do this, but the process will begin immediately,” said Shell CEO Ben van Beurden.
In addition, Shell refused to buy Russian oil on the spot market and to renew its futures contracts in this area. The company promised to change the oil supply chain to exclude the volume of Russian raw materials. Ben van Beurden added that Shell would in principle start extracting oil products and gas from Russia.
“We are aware of our decision to purchase a shipment of Russian crude oil last week. <…> It was wrong and we apologize. We will direct the profits from the processing of the remaining volumes of Russian oil to a special fund. “We will work with aid partners and humanitarian organizations to determine where we can best channel the money from this fund to mitigate the dire effects of the war on the Ukrainian people,” said the Shell CEO.
He acknowledged that giving up Russian energy supplies is a difficult task that requires joint action by the government, suppliers and consumers. But the top manager believes that during the “war in Ukraine” the authorities had to make “incredibly difficult concessions.”
Even earlier, on February 28, on the backdrop of Western sanctions against Russia, Shell announced its decision to sell its stake in joint projects with Russia’s Gazprom. Shell owns 27.5% of Sakhalin-2, the first Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, 50% in two joint ventures with Gazprom Neft Salym Petroleum Development and Gydan Energy. The company also plans to end its participation in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project under the Baltic Sea. The Financial Times, citing sources, wrote that Shell could lose up to $5 billion if it exits these projects.