Sanctions force another company out of Russia’s oil boom
Western sanctions against Russia have led Royal Dutch Shell to discontinue its work with Gazprom Neft extracting shale oil from a field in Siberia.
In announcing Shell’s suspension on its website, Gazprom Neft, part of the Kremlin-run gas monopoly Gazprom, said it will continue work “by itself” on the first horizontal exploratory drilling at the Bazhenov shale in Siberia, which began last week.
In its own statement, Shell said the sanctions had begun to affect its enterprises in Russia, some already under way, others still in the planning stages
The measures especially target Russia’s vital energy sector, sharply limiting financing for Russian oil and gas companies and forbidding Western companies to export to Russia certain advanced technologies needed for drilling in shale and in the Arctic.
The Shell statement said, “We are working closely with relevant authorities and our partners to determine what the exact impact of those [sanctions] will be.” Alexander Dyukov, the CEO of Gazprom Neft, said Shell also is meeting with regulators to determine how it might resume its work with his company.
The payoff for both Russian and western companies might have been enormous. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that Russian shale deposits are the largest in the world, at 75 billion barrels.
Source: oilpricecom- Sanctions force another company out of Russia’s oil boom
