After being criticized by Ukraine, Shell announced that it would close all gas stations in Russia and stop buying Russian oil and gas

Energy giant Shell said it would stop buying Russian oil and gas and shut down its gas stations, jet fuel and other businesses
in Russia, ABC News reported.

The international community is now pressuring Shell on Ukraine to sever ties
with Russia.

Previously, Ukraine's foreign minister had criticized Shell for continuing to buy Russian oil and slammed the company for continuing to do business with the
Russian government.

On March 8, local time, Shell plc announced that it would immediately stop buying Russian oil in the spot market and would not sign new contracts
.
The statement also mentioned that the company will withdraw from all hydrocarbon operations in Russia in
stages.

The statement came a week after Shell announced its withdrawal from its joint venture with Russia, but then bought a batch of Russian crude oil at ultra-low prices, which caused criticism, and this time, Shell CEO van Beurden also apologized for the previous purchase of Russian crude oil, "We are sorry for this"
.

Shell's statement came hours before the U.
S.
and British governments announced a ban on imports of oil, gas, coal and other energy sources from Russia
.
According to the Associated Press, due to its heavy dependence on Russian oil and gas, coupled with concerns about supply chain problems, the European Union has not expressed its position on "sanctions against Russian energy", this time, as the world's second largest oil company, after Shell issued a statement, it also directly caused international oil prices to soar to $139 per barrel, the highest price
in 14 years.

At the end of February, after the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, many Western countries announced sanctions against Russia, and major Western companies followed suit, including Shell
.
At that time, Shell announced its withdrawal from its joint venture with Gazprom and planned to withdraw from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project
.

However, a few days after announcing its withdrawal from Russia, on March 4, local time, Shell bought 100,000 tons of Russian crude oil
at a record discount of $28.
5 per barrel (about 180 yuan).
In a statement, Shell said buying Russian crude was necessary and that "there is no other option"
.
On March 5, local time, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called Shell directly on Twitter, and wrote "Don't you think the oil you buy smells of Ukrainian blood?" ”

On the 8th local time, Shell issued another statement saying that it will begin to withdraw from all hydrocarbon businesses in Russia in accordance with government guidance, including crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas and liquefied natural gas, and at the same time, immediately stop buying Russian oil in the spot market and close service stations, aviation fuel and lubricants business
in Russia.

The statement apologized for previously buying Russian crude at a low price and said all the profits the company made from the remaining Russian oil would go to a fund
that provides humanitarian relief to Ukrainians.

Alex Booth, CEO of commodities tracking firm Kpler, estimates that in 2021, Shell's tankers will transport an average of 175,000 barrels of crude oil
from Russia per day.

After announcing "sanctions" on Russian oil, Shell is reducing its spot sales
.
According to Bloomberg, Shell wrote in an email to some German wholesalers that it would restrict the sale of related products because it guaranteed the continued execution
of signed contracts in the case of reduced spot inventory.

On March 8, local time, US President Biden officially announced that the government banned the import of oil, natural gas, coal and other energy
from Russia.
The British government then followed suit, saying it would phase out Russian oil imports by the end of the year to further strengthen sanctions against
Russia.
On the same day, the European Union also proposed to cut Russia's gas imports by two-thirds within a year to reduce its dependence on
Russian energy.

The combination of multiple factors has also led to continued turmoil in global oil prices, on the 8th, Brent crude oil prices rose 3.
9% to $127.
98, however, the increase was less than the previous day, 7, due to concerns that some Western countries may launch sanctions against Russian oil, the United States, Braundia crude oil futures rose more than 10%, of which Brent crude oil touched $139.
13, a new high
since 2008.

According to the Associated Press, Nate Thooft, chief investment officer of Canada's Manulife Investment Management Group, analyzed that when the "sanctions" actually happened and gradually increased, in the market's view, this has passed, "sanctions have happened, and then the sell-off has appeared, and the market will only ask, 'Who else will sell?'" Then everybody buys
.
He believes that this turmoil will continue and uncertainty will remain high, but for investors, it is good
to buy on the dip.

On the same day, German Foreign Minister Baerbock bluntly said in an interview that banning the import of Russian oil will "harm its own interests" and will plunge Germany itself into chaos, which is a victory for Russia, not a loss, "One-third of our oil imports come from Russia
.
" If we stop importing immediately, tomorrow we will have no trouble in Germany
.
”

According to the Russian Satellite News Agency, on the 8th, MEPs Thierry Mariani told the media that if the EU continues to implement sanctions and decides to stop importing Russian gas and oil, then this will become a disaster for the EU, "oil is paid in dollars, and the euro has depreciated
sharply against the dollar.
" On the energy front, if we continue this policy and stop importing Russian gas and oil, we will suffer a disaster
that is already well known.
”

According to the latest Fox news, sanctions on Russian oil have raised the national average gasoline price to $4.
17 per gallon, the highest level
since July 2008.
Biden has said he hopes to reduce the suffering of Americans, but he also acknowledged that the move ("sanctioning" Russian oil) will raise the country's oil prices, saying, "Defending freedom will cost us something
.
" ”