As fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine intensify, Shell has pledged to act to try to ensure Europe’s energy crisis does not worsen.
On Thursday Ben van Beurden, the oil and gas giant’s chief executive, said “we’ll do whatever we can” to maintain energy supplies, including diverting cargoes.
Tensions in Eastern Europe are intensifying amid growing concerns that Russian troops on the Ukrainian border could be poised to mount an attack.
In the event of an assault, the UK has drawn up a list of sanctions it would impose on Russia, with the US proposing similar measures.
But given around a third of Europe’s natural gas comes from Russia, it is feared that any disruption to supplies could escalate the regions’ growing energy crisis.
Soaring gas prices have already led to the collapse of a number of suppliers and yesterday it was announced that UK domestic energy bills will jump by 54% from April.
It has put a further squeeze on many households who are already suffering from an increase in the cost-of-living.
In an effort to mitigate any potential impacts, the US has sounded out major energy producers, including Qatar, to see whether supplies could be diverted to Europe should Russian supplies be hampered.
© BloombergMr van Beurden says he is watching the situation in Ukraine “very carefully”, adding that Shell would do its bit to ease the pressure if needed.
He said: “So far Europe has never really suffered significant disruptions from Russia, even in very troubled geopolitical times.
“But if indeed there are disruptions, possibly due to sanctions or otherwise, of course we will step in and do whatever we can to keep Europe supplied, whether that is continuing to operate as fast as possible or diverting energy cargoes, as we did last winter. Both will of course be measures to help out.”
He added that Shell’s operations in Russia had not been affected but that he didn’t “want to speculate at this stage”.