The world’s biggest oilfield services company SLB, formerly Schlumberger, is expanding in Russia following the exit of its key Western rivals since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, FT reported on August 16.
The technology and expertise SLB provides to Russia play a critical role in enabling Russian operators to develop oil and gas projects at lower cost and with less risk.
After being exposed by the AP report based on B4Ukraine data, SLB made a public commitment in July 2023 to halt “shipments of products and technology into Russia” from its global facilities.
New Russian customs filings obtained by the FT show that after SLB imposed the ban, imports slowed to a stop by the start of September. But filings show the company also continued to import materials from other sources, bringing in $17.5mn of equipment between August and December 2023, the most recent date of available records. Of this, $2.2mn was declared as having been originally manufactured by SLB or its subsidiaries.
Documents obtained by B4Ukraine member Global Witness and seen by the FT also show that in December last year, SLB’s Russian business signed a contract with the Russian oil & gas institute Vnigni, which commits the firm to help it build models of oil & gas deposits that can be used to develop projects.
Last year, Senator Bob Menendez, the head of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called SLB in for questioning citing the AP report that the firm helped keep Russian oil flowing even as sanctions targeted the Russian war effort. Following the latest revelations, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee must seek fresh answers from SLB CEO Olivier Le Peuch.
“Policymakers need to decide — are they serious about supporting Ukraine or not?” said Lela Stanley, a senior investigator for Global Witness, which issued a report on SLB on Friday. “Western energy firms are still free to help Russia produce oil and to help fund the war. That’s a profound failure.”
Ukraine categorized SLB as a “sponsor of the war,” a label aimed at deterring banks, investors, and customers from doing business with companies still operating in Russia.
It is outrageous and shocking that a U.S. company is helping to sustain Russia’s oil and gas sector while Russia commits war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. We call on SLB to make a responsible and swift exit from the aggressor state.