Shell CEO Ben van Beurden bows to President Putin during a meeting held on 18 April 2014

By John Donovan

Royal Dutch Shell directors must be feeling anxious again.

For some years Shell continued to trade with Iran despite U.S. sanctions and engaged in machinations in an attempt to disguise what was going on. 

Today, President Obama escalated sanctions against Russia, targeting in particular Russian energy giant Rosneft and Gazprombank, the financial arm of Gazprom.

Rosneft and Gazprom are controlled by the Putin regime and both have important business dealings with Shell. read more

Extract from a Forbes article by Tim Worstall published 29 April 2014

The imposition of sanctions on various Russian people and organisations over the Ukraine threatened to pose a number of problems for the big energy companies, especially BP and Shell. If Rosneft itself were placed on the list, for example, or Gazprom, the the respective situations for BP and Shell would change markedly. …obviously neither of them is going to flout the law of a country where they have such considerable interests, as they do in the US.  read more

By ANDREW E. KRAMER and STANLEY REED

MOSCOW — BP’s board has approved an offer from the Russian state oil company, Rosneft, to buy most of BP’s business in Russia for cash and shares in Rosneft, further consolidating Russia’s control of its oil industry, an executive with knowledge of the decision said.

Under the terms of the deal, BP would remain in Russia but — initially at least — only as a minority investor in an oil company controlled by the government of President Vladimir V. Putin. Later, BP is hoping to use this new strategic tie with the Kremlin to drum up other business. read more

MOSCOW -(Dow Jones)- BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) is to exit the Sakhalin-5 gas project, and Russian state oil company OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) will continue working on it on its own, Interfax news agency reported Monday, citing Rosneft Chief Executive Eduard Khudainatov.

“BP is not interested in this project and we have made no secret of that…” Khudainatov was quoted as saying. “We are very interested. And we will not offer this project to anyone else.”

Rosneft agreed in January with BP to a $16-billion share swap and development of three Arctic offshore licenses, but that deal was blocked by BP‘s partners in the TNK-BP Ltd. joint venture. Rosneft later announced a global partnership with Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM). read more

In Sakhalin… Exxon has fared much better than rival Royal Dutch Shell, which has led the development of Sakhalin-2. In 2005 Shell disclosed $10 billion in cost overruns on the $20 billion project, and in 2007 it was forced by the Kremlin to sell half of its Sakhalin stake to Gazprom. Though Shell and Rosneft signed a “strategic alliance” in 2007, it has proven to be all show, no go. In May, Rosneft and Shell were reportedly in talks over a deal to explore the Arctic. The Exxon announcement indicates that those talks have ended.

Christopher Helman, Forbes Staff

From Houston 8/31/2011 @ 12:46PM

More than a black eye for BP, the Rosneft deal is a gold star for ExxonMobil, one that illustrates that the company is not only the world’s biggest international supermajor, but the only one that can claim any lasting success in Russia.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom that Exxon is stepping into dance shoes that had been knocked off BP’s feet — the Exxon/Rosneft venture has been a long time in coming. What’s more, the lovey-dovey deal increases the likelihood that Exxon and the Kremlin might soon be able to come to terms on the development of massive untapped natural gas reserves held by Exxon’s Sakhalin Island development. read more

Royal Dutch Shell PLC… declined to comment on the Exxon-Rosneft deal and had no update on the status of Shell’s talks with Rosneft. Shell CEO Peter Voser said in July that his company was in early-stage talks with Rosneft over Arctic exploration opportunities.

Exxon, Rosneft Sign Global Pact To Jointly Drill For Oil

By William Mauldin and Isabel Ordonez of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

MOSCOW -(Dow Jones)- Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Russia’s OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) Tuesday announced a global partnership that would grant the Texas oil giant more access to Russia’s vast oil riches and provide Rosneft a piece of the red-hot U.S. oilpatch.

The deal, which includes $3.2 billion in exploration offshore of Russia, marks Russia’s most decisive step forward to attract international oil heavyweights since the demise of a similar venture between Rosneft and BP PLC (BP, BP.LN). read more

By Alexis Flynn: Published July 28, 2011 Dow Jones Newswires

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN) Chief Executive Peter Voser said Thursday the Anglo-Dutch energy giant is in early stage talks with Russia and OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) about further opportunities in the country after the recent collapse of a proposed BP PLC (BP)-Rosneft venture.

“We have had discussions with the Russian state and Rosneft and we are exploring opportunities within Russia and outside Russia. These talks are at a very early stage and it would be pure speculation to now talk about potential outcomes. The discussions are ongoing and we will inform the market at the appropriate time on how we are progressing,” said Voser. read more