Shell pocketed £136million divi from Russia joint venture

THE chief executive of British Gas owner Centrica said that without a shake-up of the energy sector more suppliers could go bust this winter.

Thirty firms have collapsed since surging wholesale gas prices wrecked their finances.

Chris O’Shea said changes including ring-fenced customer deposits and better financial and management checks on the companies needed to happen now.

SHELL received a £136m dividend payment in April from a Russian joint venture in which the energy giant holds a 27.5pc stake.

The dividend related to the 2021 profits from the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas joint venture.

Shell had written off the value of its Russian assets at £3.2bn following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February. It also made clear that it intended to dispose of its stake in Sakhalin-2 and has been in talks with potential buyers.

Shell received the dividend from Bermuda-listed Sakhalin Energy Investment Company. A Shell spokesman said it complied with all

sanctions. The company said it did not expect further dividends from the project after a decree by Putin to seize control of it. Shell said in March that it intended to withdraw from its involvement in the Russian fuel industry, including crude oil, gas, petroleum products and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

It said it was also shutting its service stations and aviation fuels operations in the country.

Chief executive Ben van Beurden apologised after buying a cargo of Russian crude oil even after the Kremlin’s tanks had advanced into Ukraine. He said the decision was ‘not the right one and we are sorry’.

Rival BP said in February that it was ditching its one-fifth stake in Russia’s oil giant Rosneft, resulting in a £21bn charge. Chairman Helge Lund said Putin’s ‘act of aggression’ represented a ‘fundamental change’ after three decades in the country.