Shell has agreed to sell almost 400 gas stations in Russia to Lukoil, which is the second-largest oil company in the country.
The company’s Russian business, Shell Neft, will be sold for an amount that is not known.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, a number of oil and gas companies in the West have been trying to sell their operations there.
Shell said that 350 jobs would be kept because of the deal, which includes 411 gas stations.
A lubricant mixing plant about 200 kilometers north of Moscow is also part of the deal. Lukoil is Russia’s largest oil company after Rosneft, which is owned by the government.
Shell said in February that it would sell its Russian interests because of the invasion of Ukraine.
It reported record quarterly earnings earlier this month. This is because oil and gas prices continue to go up, which is good for energy companies.
In the first three months of this year, Shell made $9.13 billion (£7.3 billion). This is almost three times as much as the $3.2 billion it made at the same time last year.
But the company said that getting out of its Russian partnerships, which included selling its shares in all joint ventures with Gazprom, the state-owned energy company in Russia, cost it $3.9 billion (£3.1 billion).
“Under this deal, more than 350 Shell Neft employees will move to the new owner of this business,” said Huibert Vigevano, who is in charge of Shell’s downstream operations.
Lukoil’s vice president for refined products sales, said, “The purchase of Shell’s high-quality businesses in Russia fits well with Lukoil’s strategy to grow its priority sales channels, such as retail and the lubricants business.”
The Lukoil deal is one of the earliest times that UK-listed Shell was able to sell off its Russian assets. Russia’s anti-monopoly service still needs to give its approval for the sale to go through.
