Oil giant Shell writes off up to $5 billion in assets after exiting Russia

seashells It announced that it would cancel between 4 and 5 billion dollars in the value of its assets after withdrawing from Russia in the wake of the country’s unprecedented invasion of Ukraine.

Thursday’s announcement offers a first glimpse into the potential financial impact of the major Western oil companies’ exit from Russia.

“For first-quarter 2022 results, the after-tax impact from depreciation of non-current assets and surcharges (such as reductions in receivables, expected credit losses and burdensome contracts) related to Russia’s activities is expected to range from $4 to $5,” Shell said in a statement Thursday. .

“These fees are expected to be set and therefore will not affect adjusted earnings.”

The company said that more details about the impact of ongoing developments in Ukraine will be set out in Shell’s first-quarter earnings report on May 5.

Shell was forced to apologize on March 8 To buy a huge discount shipment of Russian oil two weeks after the Russian invasion. It later announced that it was withdrawing its involvement in all Russian hydrocarbons.

The company said it would no longer buy Russian crude oil and would close service stations and operations of jet fuel and lubricants in Russia. The company had already pledged to exit its joint ventures with the Russian gas giant Gazprom and related entities.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated soon.