BP, Equinor and Shell heap pressure on peers

The firms’ Russian exits will make remaining in the country difficult to justify for other IOCs

The decisions by BP, Shell and Norway’s Equinor to quit their Russian oil and gas businesses in response to the invasion of Ukraine have seen continuing licence to operate placed above immediate economics. It will now be very difficult for other IOCs, particularly those based in an angry and almost uniformly pro-Ukraine Europe, to resist calls for them to follow suit, even if they might be more reluctant to do so. BP will exit its stake in Russian oil company Rosneft, while Norway’s Equinor is to start withdrawing from its joint ventures (JVs) in Russia—which arose mainly from a 2012 cooperation agreement with Rosneft and had a value of c.$1.2bn at the end of 2021, according to Spanish bank