Although Shell announced sanctions on Russia on February 28, on March 5, Shell said it had purchased a shipment of Russian crude because it "had no choice".
It is reported that Shell purchased 725,000 barrels of Russian crude oil at a price of $28.5 (about 180 yuan) lower than the price of Brent crude oil on the same day.
Shell said it was trying to maintain the supply of fuel and that alternative sources of supply were not in place in time, so it had to buy Russian crude oil in order to meet European market demand in time.
The company stressed that without a continuous supply of crude oil to refineries, the energy industry cannot guarantee a supply of essential products across Europe in the coming weeks.
(Headquarters reporter Hou Maohua)