THE SHELL LEAKS FILES: 17 SEPTEMBER 2026
SLF-2007-060
The Sakhalin Papers L: The Exit — Shell Walks Away, Moscow Rewrites the Ownership and Sakhalin II Enters a New Era
On 28 February 2022, Shell announced that it would leave Sakhalin II. Within weeks its directors had resigned from the venture and its managerial and technical personnel were being withdrawn. Then the legal structure itself changed. A Russian presidential decree transferred the project’s licences, rights and obligations from the Bermuda-incorporated Sakhalin Energy Investment Company into a newly created Russian company. Shell declined to join it. The Japanese shareholders stayed. More than four years later, Shell still records an interest in the old Bermuda company — and the financial and legal consequences of the exit remain the subject of litigation in Moscow.
1. Four days that changed Shell’s Russian strategy
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
Four days later, on 28 February, Shell plc announced that its Board intended to withdraw from its joint ventures with Gazprom and related Russian entities.
The announcement specifically included:
Shell’s 27.5% minus one share interest in Sakhalin II;
its 50% interest in Salym Petroleum Development;
the Gydan Energy venture;
and its involvement in Nord Stream 2.
Shell said the decision had been taken in response to the invasion and that it would work through the commercial and energy-supply consequences while complying with sanctions. (Shell)
THE SHELL LEAKS FILES: 15 SEPTEMBER 2026
