Equinor announced on Friday that it has completed its pullout from Russia, fulfilling a promise made during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
This is the first full, orderly evacuation of an international oil and gas corporation from Russia, while pressure rises on others, including TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil.
Equinor announced on February 28 that it would begin the process of divesting from Russian joint ventures, calling its situation as ‘untenable’ after the war began the previous week.
Equinor said in March that it will stop trading Russian oil, and in May it announced an agreement to withdraw its Russian joint ventures and transfer them to state-owned Rosneft, the company’s long-term partner in the nation.
It was therefore left with just one Russian asset to sell: the Arctic Kharyaga oilfield, which is operated by Russia’s Zarubezhneft and in which TotalEnergies has a stake.
Equinor said on Friday, ‘Equinor can now announce that the full exit from Kharyaga has likewise been completed.’ ‘Equinor has no remaining assets or projects in Russia following its pullout from Kharyaga.’
TotalEnergies of France, which has received domestic criticism for keeping several of its assets in Russia, stated on August 26 that it has decided to sell its stake in a Siberian gas field to local partner Novatek.
Shell and BP, however, have announced they aim to leave Russia but have yet to complete their withdrawals.
A Russian presidential decree issued last month prohibited investors from what Moscow considers hostile countries from selling interests in some energy projects until the end of the year, but the law allows for exceptions in select situations.
According to the Wall Street Journal, which cited anonymous sources, Exxon has informed Russian officials that it will sue the federal government unless Moscow permits the business to abandon the massive Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project.
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