15 Oct 2024
Well, well, well—look who’s crying foul! Shell, the lovable oil giant with a heart of, well, pure carbon, is now throwing a hissy fit because gasp Russia did something shady. After Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine (as one does), Shell bolted from its Russian investments like a thief in the night. Now, the Kremlin is coming after them for a cool €1 billion, and Shell, bless its greedy little heart, just can’t believe this is happening.
Here’s the scoop: Shell had a 27.5% stake in the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas field, a cozy arrangement with Gazprom (Russia’s state-owned gas company) and a couple of Japanese firms like Mitsui and Mitsubishi. But after Russia basically swiped the joint venture and handed it over to a homegrown entity, Shell decided it wasn’t playing along. Did they think Putin would care? Of course not! Russia casually sold off Shell’s stake—because why not—passing it to Novatek and Gazprom.
And, wait for it, the best part: Shell got a “generous” £740 million in compensation. But, naturally, they refused to accept it because they still think they’re the rightful owners. Yes, the same Shell that happily wrote off $5 billion in Russian assets when they dashed for the exits in 2022. But, apparently, that wasn’t enough, because here we are, with Shell still whining about it like they’re the real victims.
Russia’s prosecutor general is slapping Shell with a €1 billion lawsuit, and the company’s acting like this is some sort of personal betrayal. Like they didn’t see this coming from a country run by a guy who has no problem annexing other countries.
But here’s the real kicker: Shell knew the risks. They’ve always been willing to cozy up to unsavoury regimes if it means more oil cash. John Donovan, a long-time critic of Shell, had front-row seats to this circus during the Sakhalin 2 days. Back then, Shell was tangled up in all sorts of messes—exploitation, environmental destruction, you name it. But sure, let’s all feel sorry for them now.
And let’s not forget Shell’s shareholders, including BlackRock and Vanguard, probably aren’t losing sleep over this. After all, their portfolios are padded with enough cash to mop up any oil spills that come their way.
But what’s a billion to a company that single-handedly pumps the atmosphere full of greenhouse gases while pretending to care about “clean energy”? Shell will survive this, no doubt. And they’ll keep doing what they do best: polluting, profiting, and pretending they’re the ones being wronged.
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