Shell warned on April 7 it expected to book a write-down charge of between $4 and $5bn in the first quarter on its Russian assets in light of its decision to leave the country because of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

The UK major previously said it would write off only $3.4bn in value because of its departure from Russia, where it has a 27.5% stake in the Gazprom-operated Sakhalin LNG plant in the Russian Far East, as well as shares in Gazprom Neft’s Salym Petroleum and Gydan oil developments in Western Siberia. The company’s overall market capitalisation is roughly $205bn.

Shell is also scaling back its oil and gas trading activities in Russia, after getting into hot water for buying a heavily discounted cargo of Russian Urals oil in early March. According to Bloomberg, however, the company is continuing Russian oil trade but is blending it with crude of another origin to avoid scrutiny.

The newspaper reported on April 9 that the oil mix was being referred to as “Latvian blend.”

If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping the former Soviet Union’s oil and gas sector then please click here for NewsBase’s FSU Monitor.

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