Russia’s oil and gas giants, listed on the London Stock Exchange, have seen their stock plummet after Putin invaded Ukraine last week.
Since last Thursday, when Russia invaded Ukraine, shares of Rosneft, Gazprom, Lukoil and Surgutneftegaz have collapsed in the London market, losing up to $ 190 billion of their total market capitalization, or 95 percent, according to estimates by Saxo Group and Bloomberg. shared by Saxo Bank Commodity Strategy Manager Ole Hansen.
Companies could also see the collapse of their market capitalization in Moscow if the Moscow Stock Exchange was opened. However, after SWIFT sanctions imposed on Russian banks over the weekend, the Russian ruble collapsed on Monday, ordinary Russians lined up in front of banks and ATMs to withdraw cash, the central bank doubled the key interest rate to 20 percent to avoid a complete collapse of the economy, and the Moscow Stock Exchange said it would not open at all this week.
Russia’s oil and gas reserves in London were also shattered by an avalanche of reports from international major companies that cut ties with Russian oil and gas companies, withdrew from projects and halted investment in Russia.
BP said this weekend that it would abandon its 20 percent stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft and likely receive $ 25 billion from the move. BP is also reported to have canceled all its fuel oil loads from a Russian Black Sea port due to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier this week.
Shell said it intends to leave its joint ventures with Gazprom and related parties, including its participation in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. ExxonMobil, the operator of the Sakhalin-1 project, is beginning the process of terminating operations and developing steps to exit the Sakhalin-1 plant, the US superintendent said on Wednesday. Equinor of Norway has also decided to start the process of leaving its Russian joint ventures.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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