Norway’s Equinor has completed its exit from Russia, the energy group has confirmed, delivering on the promise made following the invasion of Ukraine in February.
The announcement marks the first full exit from Russia by an international oil and gas company, putting pressure on others, such as TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil, to follow suit.
Equinor had announced in the days following the Ukraine invasion that it would begin the process of divesting from joint ventures in Russia, describing its position in the country as “untenable”.
This was followed by a decision in March to stop trading Russian oil and in May Equinor announced an agreement to exit its Russian joint ventures and transfer them to state-owned Rosneft, leaving the company with only one Russian asset to divest; the Arctic Kharyaga oilfield.
“Equinor can now confirm that the full exit from Kharyaga has also been completed,” the firm said in a statement. “Following the exit from Kharyaga, Equinor has no remaining assets or projects in Russia.”
France’s TotalEnergies, which has faced criticism at home for failing to divest from Russia, announced on August 26th that it had agreed to sell its stake in a Siberian gas field to local partner Novatek.
Shell and BP have both said they plan to exit Russia but are yet to implement any proposed measures.
A presidential decree issued by Vladimir Putin last month banned investors from what Moscow deems “unfriendly countries” from selling shares in certain energy projects until the end of the year, but the decree provides waivers in some instances.
US oil major Exxon has notified Russian officials it plans to sue the federal government unless Moscow allows the company to exit the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.