- Shell said it's pulling back from Russian oil and gas and closing service stations in Russia.
- CEO Ben van Beurden apologized for buying Russian crude oil last week, saying it was the wrong decision.
- It's the latest company to cut business ties with Russia because of the invasion of Ukraine.
Shell announced on Tuesday plans to withdraw from the Russian oil and gas industry and shut down all of the company's service stations in the country.
The announcement follows criticism over the oil giant's purchase of Russian oil last week, and is the latest example of companies severing business ties with Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
Shell said in a press release that its first step is to immediately stop buying Russian crude oil on the spot market and to not renew term contracts.
In addition to closing its service stations, Shell will also close its aviation fuels and lubricants operations in Russia straight away, it said.
The company said in the release that it will change its crude oil supply chain to remove Russian supplies, but added that this could take weeks to finish and will mean reduced throughput at some of its refineries.
Shell apologized in the press release for its purchase of Russian oil on Saturday. Previously, the company said it would limit business with Russia, the world's third-largest oil producer and a major gas exporter to Europe, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Shell said in a statement shared to Twitter over the weekend that it made "the difficult decision" to buy the oil from Russia, citing concerns over market interruptions and supply security.
"We are acutely aware that our decision last week to purchase a cargo of Russian crude oil to be refined into products like petrol and diesel — despite being made with security of supplies at the forefront of our thinking — was not the right one and we are sorry," Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said in the release.
Ukraine's foreign minister, Dymtro Kuleba, tweeted on Tuesday: "Grateful to Shell for taking this moral and responsible step and encourage other world businesses to follow suit."