After receiving a barrage of criticism for its purchase of a shipment of Russian crude, it defended Shell, the largest oil company in Europeabout its deal as “concluded after government talks.”
“We will continue to choose alternatives to Russian oil where possible but this cannot happen overnight due to Russia’s importance to global supplies. We have had extensive conversations with governments and continue to follow their guidance on this issue of supply security,” the oil giant said in a statement on Saturday.
Shell, which is headquartered in London, did not specify which governments it was talking to. An official at the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy declined to comment, according to “Bloomberg”, which was reviewed by Al Arabiya.net.
Shell bought a shipment of Urals crude oil from Trafigura group on Friday, at a record discount to benchmark prices in a sign that major buyers will likely continue to buy Russian energy products despite its increasingly deadly war against Ukraine.
The deal highlighted the difficult situation facing European and global energy buyers, especially now that the situation has become more murky, as they need to know how to deal with the potential loss of a major supplier in the market, as the imposition of sanctions on Russia effectively removes the Russian product as an option.
The purchase sparked strong criticism, as Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted, asking Shell “if the smell of Russian oil looks like “Ukrainian blood to it”.
Shell, which moved to withdraw its stake in the Sakhalin 2 LNG project shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, said it would donate the profits from its Russia business to humanitarian agencies.
“Without a continuous supply of crude oil to refineries, the energy industry cannot ensure that essential products will continue to be supplied to citizens across Europe over the coming weeks,” she said. “Consignments from alternative sources would not have arrived in time to avoid supply disruptions in the market,” she added.