THE SHELL LEAKS FILES — 14 NOVEMBER 2026
Archive reference: SLF-2007-118
The Sakhalin Papers CVIII: The Sakhalin Address Test — 5,933 Local Contracts, but How Much of Shell’s Energy Legacy Stayed on the Island?
Sakhalin Energy reported that 70% of its Russian-company contracts and purchase orders in 2024 went to businesses registered on Sakhalin. Yet only 59% of its own employees were residents of the region. Earlier, while Shell remained a major shareholder, the operator reported that Sakhalin Oblast had received approximately $8 billion in project-related public revenues by the end of 2016. These are substantial economic benefits. But they represent three fundamentally different measurements: contracts awarded, employment and money received by government. Original Shell-era corporate reports, independent research, contemporaneous Russian reporting and the replacement operator’s disclosures reveal what can — and cannot — be established about the benefits retained by Sakhalin itself.
AN INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY INVESTIGATION
By the Donovan–Shell Archive
Researched and drafted with assistance from ChatGPT. Based on authenticated Sakhalin Energy corporate reports published during Shell’s involvement, contemporaneous Russian news reporting, independent WWF-Russia and International Institute for Environment and Development research, Shell’s subsequent withdrawal announcement, and the replacement operator’s published disclosures.
Publication date: 14 November 2026
A Documentary Investigation into Two Louisiana LNG Contracts, a New York Court Judgment and the Fine Print Governing Shell’s American Gas Supplies
























