Gazprom Marketing & Trading sources fuel from countries all over the world and is one of many wholesale gas suppliers to Centrica. Centrica said that none of its supply currently comes from Russia.
Glencore’s and Centrica’s moves on Tuesday are the latest signs of a growing corporate backlash against Russia as it ratchets up its attack on Ukraine.
BP on Sunday said it will exit its 19.75pc stake in Rosneft and give up its two seats on Rosneft’s board, while Shell on Monday said it will quit the flagship Sakhalin 2 LNG plant it has been developing alongside Gazprom and pull out of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. A Swiss official reportedly said the Nord Stream 2 company, a subsidiary of Gazprom, was now insolvent and all staff have been laid off.
Independent Oil and Gas, a North Sea oil producer, said it had also served notice to Gazprom’s trading arm to end an agreement for IOG to sell its production to the company.
However, the French oil major Total faced criticism on Tuesday after it said it would no longer provide capital for new projects in Russia but stopped short of exiting the country. It holds a 19.4pc stake in LNG giant Novatek. Anti-fossil fuel group 350.org said the move was “outrageous”.
Whether Shell, BP and others will be able to exit their positions is unclear, with Russia planning to temporarily block foreign investors from selling Russian assets “to give business a chance to make a considered decision”, said Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said.
Michael Saunders, a policymaker at the Bank of England, said rising prices in wholesale gas markets imply bills could rise by another 10pc in October when the price cap is reviewed, putting more pressure on family finances.
Higher inflation for longer puts pressure on the Bank to raise interest rates to stop price rises spreading through the economy, and to prove the Monetary Policy Committee is taking the problem seriously.
National Grid, which operates Europe’s largest LNG import terminal in the Isle of Grain, Kent, said it is in “urgent discussions with government and customers” to ensure the ban on Russian fossil fuel can be applied.
Gas exports from Russia to Europe have actually increased even as the invasion began, by roughly 42pc from 190 million cubic metres a day on February 22 to 270 million cubic metres a day on Tuesday, according to Rystad Energy.
