Associated Press LONDON (AP) – Shell says it will stop buying Russian oil and natural gas. The energy giant also said Tuesday that it will shut down its service stations and other operations in the country amid international pressure for companies to sever ties over the invasion of Ukraine.
Shell says in a statement that it would withdraw from all Russian hydrocarbons, including crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas and liquefied natural gas, “in a phased manner.”
The decision comes just days after Ukraine’s foreign minister criticized Shell for continuing to buy Russian oil, lashing out at the company for continuing to do business with President Vladimir Putin’s government.
Shell’s chief executive, Ben van Beurden, also apologized for the decision last week to buy a cargo of Russian crude oil to guarantee UK fuel supplies, saying in part that the decision “was not the right one.”
“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 security of supplies at the forefront of our thinking – was not the right one and we are sorry. As we have already said, we will commit profits from the limited, remaining amounts of Russian oil we will process to a dedicated fund. We will work with aid partners and humanitarian agencies over the coming days and weeks to determine where the monies from this fund are best placed to alleviate the terrible consequences that this war is having on the people of Ukraine.”
(Copyright 2022 WBAP/KLIF. All rights reserved.)
