“LNG export [gás natural liquefeito] from Russia help finance that country’s war in Ukraine and are estimated to be worth $21 billion by 2022 [cerca de 19,2 mil milhões de euros]Global Witness wrote in a report.
Global Witness “estimates that Shell made hundreds of millions last year trading Russian LNG”.
Also in May, the British giant bought and sold “about 170,000 cubic meters of Russian gas, transported by the oil tanker Nikolay Zubov,” the NGO complains.
According to Global Witness, three companies have sold more Russian LNG than Shell: two are Russian, but the third is French TotalEnergies.
“Despite the war crimes to which this trade contributes, its financing is legal,” complains Global Witness.
“Companies are not prohibited from trading Russian gas and, unlike the US, neither is the EU [União Europeia] neither the United Kingdom has banned imports of Russian gas,” he continued. But “the United Kingdom and EU member states must act,” he defended.
Questioned by the AFP, Shell and Total Energies said they were bound by current contracts, although they pulled out of Russian partnerships after last year’s invasion of Ukraine.
Shell “has long-term contractual obligations,” said a spokesman for the company.
“There is a dilemma between pressuring the Russian government for its atrocities in Ukraine and ensuring a stable and secure energy supply. It is for governments to decide on the incredibly difficult compromises to be made,” it said. company, quoted by AFP.
For its part, TotalEnergies says it has “undertaken the phasing out of Russian assets, ensuring the continued supply of LNG to Europe”.
Total Energies “recalls its duty to contribute to the security of gas energy supply in Europe, within the framework of long-term contracts that it must honor, as long as European governments do not apply sanctions against Russian gas”.
The French company also points out that “it has already sold its assets in Russia, which did not contribute to the continent’s energy supply”.
Source: DN
