Fuel giant Shell has defended its decision to buy a cargo of Russian crude oil despite the invasion and bombardment of Ukraine.
According to the BBC, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hit out at the energy company, asking on Twitter: ‘Doesn’t Russian oil smell Ukrainian blood for you?’
Shell said it was ‘appalled by the war in Ukraine’ and had stopped most activities involving Russian oil, but added the situation with supplies was ‘highly complex’.
A company spokesperson said: ‘To be clear, without an uninterrupted supply of crude oil to refineries, the energy industry cannot assure continued provision of essential products to people across Europe over the weeks ahead.
‘Cargoes from alternative sources would not have arrived in time to avoid disruptions to market supply. We didn’t take this decision lightly and we understand the strength of feeling around it.’
According to the BBC, Russian oil currently makes up about 8% of Shell’s working supplies. It also notes that one of the firm’s refineries, producing diesel and petrol and other products, is among the biggest in Europe.
The report says that, so far, Western countries have not imposed sanctions on Russian oil imports, fearing it will drive up already record high energy prices around the world.
However, on Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was now in ‘active discussions’ with European partners about banning them while also maintaining a ‘steady global supply’.
Russia is the world’s second top producer of crude oil after Saudi Arabia, and supplies about a third of Europe’s needs.
[Image: Catherine Hammond, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21552115]