Shell agrees to sell Russian retail business to Lukoil

Shell has agreed to sell almost 400 of its gas outlets in Russia to Lukoil, the country’s second-largest oil company.

Shell Neft, the company’s Russian business, will be sold for an unknown value.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, several Western oil and gas companies have been trying to sell their Russian operations.

The transaction, which includes 411 gas stations, would preserve 350 jobs, according to Shell.

The transaction also includes a lubricant mixing plant around 200 kilometers north of Moscow. After state-owned Rosneft, Lukoil is Russia’s largest oil producer.

Because of the invasion of Ukraine, Shell said in February that it would sell its Russian interests.

It announced record quarterly earnings earlier this month, as energy companies continue to benefit from rising oil and gas prices.

Shell made $9.13 billion (£7.3 billion) in the first three months of this year, nearly tripling its $3.2 billion profit from the same period last year.

However, the company stated that exiting Russian partnerships, including the sale of its holdings in all joint ventures with Russian state energy major Gazprom, had cost it $3.9 billion (£3.1 billion).

“Under this deal, more than 350 people currently employed by Shell Neft will transfer to the new owner of this business,” said Huibert Vigeveno, Shell’s downstream director.

Maxim Donde, Lukoil’s vice president for refined products sales, said: “The acquisition of Shell’s high-quality businesses in Russia fits well into Lukoil’s strategy to develop its priority sales channels, including retail, as well as the lubricants business.”

The Lukoil deal is one of the earliest in which a Western firm, UK-listed Shell, has been able to sell off its Russian assets. The sale is still subject to regulatory approval by Russia’s anti-monopoly service.

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