Shell, a British multinational oil and gas company, is now in talks with a consortium of Indian energy companies to sell its stake in a major liquefied natural gas plant in Russia which the British company abandoned following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Indian consortium’s potential interest in the Russian plant shows how India is willing to move in on energy assets and cheap oil supplies coming on the market as a result of Western companies pulling back from Russia. Shell in February said it would exit all its Russian operations, including its 27. 5% stake in the Sakhalin-2 LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) plant, amid an exodus of Western companies from the country. The world’s largest LNG trader wrote down $3.9 billion on Russian assets after its decision to leave.
The company has recently entered talks with a group of Indian companies, including ONGC Videsh and Gail to acquire the stake. However, Shell, in addition to ONGC, Gail and other Indian state-run companies have not yet given their response. Shell is also asking the Indian group for separate bids for long term deals it has with Sakhalin 2 to supply it with LNG cargoes and crude oil.
