Shell has mothballed a multibillion-dollar shale gas joint venture in eastern Ukraine amid the escalating conflict with Russia.
The Anglo-Dutch oil group said that the project, to drill for shale gas in almost 8,000 sq km near the site of the downed Malaysian airliner, was on hold.
Analysts had expected the company to invest up to $10 billion after signing an agreement with the Ukrainian government in September in what would have been one of the largest foreign investments in the country.
Ben van Beurden, the chief executive, said yesterday: “It was technically on hold for evaluation purposes but we have also declared force majeure because we can’t continue operations there.”
Declaring an “act of God” releases Shell from fulfilling its obligations under the agreement.