The American company (SLB), the largest oilfield services company in the world, has begun to reduce its activity in Russia after more than a year has passed since the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the imposition of multiple Western sanctions packages.
And it seems that the measures to reduce its operations and activity in Russia began since last month (April) in a variety of ways, including banning its employees in the Moscow branch from accessing some programs in branches of other countries, according to Reuters.
The company took a soft stance on sanctions against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, declaring that it would continue to operate as normal, to the outrage of its employees around the world, and human rights groups – too -.
The world’s largest oilfield services company was previously known as Schlumberger, but it changed its name in October 2022; In line with the carbon neutrality plans that it announced its adoption.
The company started its activities in France since the mid-nineties of the last century, and is present – currently – in more than 80 countries, and the number of its employees around the world exceeds 100 thousand, according to data seen by the specialized energy platform.
Reduce movable equipment
SLB has begun reducing equipment transferred to Russia as part of the downsizing, according to documents and statements from two sources familiar with the matter.
And it has already been reported that the largest oilfield services company in the world is strengthening operations in Russia and replacing its competitors exiting from Moscow, according to what was published by Reuters in January 2023.
Russia witnessed the exit of major oil and gas companies after its invasion of Ukraine, such as Shell and Exxon Mobil.
A spokesman for the company said that it had begun to take additional measures to reduce its activity in Russia in parallel with the development of Western sanctions, and that these measures may exceed the requirements of the sanctions themselves.
He added that among these measures is the imposition of an additional ban on shipping to Russia of any products or technologies manufactured in America, the United Kingdom and European Union countries, in addition to Canada.
He continued, saying: “The amendment of the procedures ensures that our employees are subject to all sanctions against Russia and the changes that are taking place.”
Reasons for downsizing
It is not clear what prompted SLB to reduce its activity in Russia more than a year after the war in Ukraine, but it may be related to America imposing additional economic sanctions targeting the mining and metals sectors, according to the report, which was seen by the specialized energy platform.
The world’s largest oilfield services company has 10,000 employees in Russia supporting the activities of major state-owned companies such as Gazprom Neft and Rosneft.
Its activity in Russia contributed about 6% of its total revenues of $28.1 billion at the end of 2022.
However, the number of the company’s employees in Russia has shrunk to 9,600 since the beginning of this year (2023), which reduced the activity’s contribution there to revenues to 5%.
After the war, neither the United States nor the European Union required the exit of oil and gas companies from Russia, but they banned any new investments, then imposed sanctions on money transfers to Russia, in addition to restricting the export of some equipment and energy services, starting from the beginning of 2023.
And the activity of the world’s largest oilfield services company in Russia began to be reduced during the month of April, after making adjustments in the units of Moscow, the Caspian Sea and Kazakhstan.
Depriving employees of Russia of data
In recent weeks, the world’s largest oilfield services company (SLB) has denied its employees in Russia access to data and programs stored in America and Britain, according to an employee of the company.
He added that employees in Russia are currently prohibited from receiving some messages of the Board of Directors, explaining that any new system or application used on a large scale globally does not reach the employees of the Moscow branch.
It is noteworthy that the CEO of the company, Olivier Le Bush, told his employees, in a letter at the end of last February, that they are in a “difficult situation”, and the situation is being assessed, but he repeated what he said in the past, that there is no plan to leave Russia.
He said in remarks after the start of the war in Ukraine: “Until this moment, it seems that the best behavior for shareholders is to continue in Russia, as long as we are able to cope with the economic sanctions.”
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