18/06/2024
Attacks on oil refineries in Russia are becoming more frequent. In early June 2024, for example, a drone attack on the "Lukoil" refinery was reported. So the Russian government has classified data on fuel production. Shortly before this, the Financial Times reported that the USA allegedly asked Ukraine not to strike Russian oil refining facilities.
Considering that many foreign oil investors own shares in Russian oil and gas giants, could this somehow influence the partners' loud political statements?
Foreign investors in the Russian oil-gas sphere
OSINT specialists from Molfar agency analyzed about 30 of the largest Russian oil and gas companies, such as Rosneft, Gazprom, and Lukoil. Numerous oil investors and companies from Russia's eastern partners and European and American companies were identified among their owners.
BlackRock, Vanguard Group, and other companies from the USA are shareholders in Russian oil companies
BlackRock, a US-based asset management company, is one of the key investors in the Russian oil and gas sector. In "Gazprom," they hold a 1.2% stake, which amounts to approximately $1.285 billion, according to Financial Times data from February 2024. BlackRock has frozen its assets but maintains its stake in Russian companies. Additionally, according to their 2023 annual report, the company owned 61,000 shares of the Russian oil and gas company “Novatek.”
The Vanguard Group's report as of October 31, 2023, shows that the company owns 1.4 thousand shares of the Russian "Novatek." In January 2022, shortly before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Vanguard Group and BlackRock also invested around $1.3 billion in "Gazprom." As of February 2024, Vanguard Group values its 282.6 million shares at zero US dollars (1, 2, 3). In February-March 2022, Vanguard Group suspended the purchase of Russian securities (1, 2).
Mercer Funds is an asset management and consulting firm. For example, they hold shares in the Russian company "Gazprom." Mercer Funds owns 3.8 million shares of "Gazprom," valued at $113,000 (1, 2). Mercer Funds have not commented on Russian aggression against Ukraine nor declared intentions to exit the Russian market. As of March 31, 2023, Mercer held 169,000 shares of "Rosneft," approximately valued at $6,500 (1, 2), and they own 18,000 shares of "Novatek," valued at $3,000 (1, 2).
J.P. Morgan has a stake in "Rosneft." As of October 2023, their assets' value was estimated at $137,900. Representatives of the company stated that they are exiting Russia. However, Russian media reports that JP Morgan Bank International, a Russian subsidiary of JP Morgan Chase Bank, has increased its assets over the past two years. As of October 2023, one of J.P. Morgan's funds owned shares in "Gazprom," valued at $298,000. One of their funds also holds shares in "Lukoil," valued at $379,000.
GQG Partners, a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, held 90k shares of 0.3% of Russia's Rosneft as of August 2023. They also had shares in Novatek, valued at $195,000 as of October 2023. They owned 0.29% of Gazprom and 277,000 shares of Tatneft. Before the full-scale invasion, they held 62,000 shares, or 0.4%, of Lukoil.
Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned 93,000 shares (1, 2) of "Novatek" as of February 28, 2023, valued at approximately $13,000.
The American investment bank, Charles Schwab held 127,000 shares of "Gazprom."
According to a financial aggregator, Capital Research and Management Company, a subsidiary of Capital Group Companies, Inc., invested $210 million and held a 1.94% stake in Gazprom. As of December 2023, Capital Group likely owned 36,900 shares, according to its financial report.
Kopernik Global Investors LLC owned 37.05 million shares of "Gazprom." According to FT's financial aggregator, as of January 2024, they held 37.95 million shares of "Gazprom."
As of November 2023, Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned 23.93 million shares of the aforementioned “Gazprom.”
Fidelity's Christopher Tennant, one of the fund managers, stated that the company had to write off its Russian investments in "Lukoil." However, the shares remain legally owned by the fund. According to S&P Market Intelligence, they held a 2.34% stake. As of January 2024, several Fidelity funds reported that their total shareholding had decreased to 0.72%, valued at $34.78 million (1, 2).
Companies from France that hold shares in Russian oil and gas companies
TotalEnergies is an oil and gas company that owns approximately 19.4% of Russia's Novatek. Additionally, it has actively invested in projects of this Russian company, such as Arctic LNG 2. As of March 2024, its stake is valued at approximately $189 million. In another Novatek project, Yamal LNG, its share is 20.02%, or $4.5 billion.
TotalEnergies SE does not plan to exit the "Yamal LNG" project but states that it has frozen its assets in "Novatek" and the "Arctic LNG 2" project.
In October 2022, Patrick Pouyanne, the CEO of TotalEnergies, stated that the company would continue to supply liquefied natural gas from Russia as long as no sanctions were imposed on this fuel.
In December 2022, TotalEnergies announced that it had decided to withdraw its directors from "Novatek." They would no longer account for this shareholding as part of its equity. The company also noted that it could not sell its stake due to shareholder agreements, which prohibit selling any TotalEnergies asset to one of the principal shareholders of "Novatek," who are under sanctions. As of December 31, 2023, TotalEnergies still held 19.4% of the shares in "Novatek" (1, 2).
"Nord Stream" and German companies with shares in Russian oil and gas companies
Germany has companies interested in the Russian oil and gas business. Analyzing open data, Molfar identified two German companies that hold shares in the "Nord Stream" project — Wintershall Dea AG with a 15.5% stake, and PEG Infrastruktur AG (E.ON) with a 15.5% stake, valued at $2.6 billion according to the report.
A few words about Nord Stream. It includes the gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2.
Nord Stream 1. According to the site, as of March 2024, the five shareholders of the Nord Stream AG consortium were:
- LLC "Gazprom International Projects North 1" (a company of the "Gazprom Group") — 51%;
- German Wintershall Dea AG — a crude oil and gas producer — 15.5%;
- PEG Infrastruktur AG (E.ON) — a German energy company — 15.5%;
- N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie — a Dutch natural gas infrastructure and transportation company — 9%;
- Engie SA — a French company operating in electricity generation and distribution, natural gas, nuclear energy, renewable energy, and oil — 9%.
In March 2023, according to TASS, Wintershall Dea AG, PEG Infrastruktur AG, and N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie wrote off their shares in Nord Stream AG. According to their 2023 annual reports (1, 2, 3), they still listed their shares in Nord Stream AG.
Engie, in its 2023 annual report, valued its share in Nord Stream AG at zero (90 million euros as of December 31, 2022).
Nord Stream 2 (WebArchive). The shareholder of this project was "Gazprom." As of February 2022, the financial investors were:
On February 22, 2022, Germany halted the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline certification process in response to Russia's recognition of the self-proclaimed "LDNR." On March 1, 2022, according to SRF media, Nord Stream 2 AG declared bankruptcy and laid off 106 employees. In December 2022, a Swiss court granted a six-month “bankruptcy stay” to Nord Stream 2 AG. The company’s stay has been extended from January 2023 to July 2023.
Wintershall DEA and Nord Stream
In March 2022, Wintershall DEA announced that it decided to write off its $1.1 billion funding for Nord Stream 2. Despite this, they will continue participating in Siberia's "Yuzhno-Russkoye" and "Achimov" natural gas extraction projects. In January 2023, Wintershall Dea announced its exit from the Russian market. According to their 2023 annual report, the process may be completed in 2024.
British companies with shares in Russian oil and gas companies
BP Russian Investments Limited (owned by British Petroleum). As of February 24, 2023, this British company owns 19.75% of "Rosneft." In February 2022, they announced their exit from the group of investors. However, they likely have not yet sold their shares. On October 27, 2022, Igor Sechin, the head of Rosneft, stated that British Petroleum remains its "shadow" shareholder and that dividends of $700 million for the second half of 2021 were transferred to accounts opened for them.
Abrdn Investments held 1.5 million shares of "Novatek" as of September 30, 2023 (1, 2).
Italian companies and their "oil stake" in Russia
Eurizon Fund: Part of Eurizon Capital, the investment division of Intesa Sanpaolo Group, one of Italy's largest banking groups. They manage various investment funds, including equities, bonds, and multi-asset funds. They hold stakes in major Russian companies such as "Gazprom," "Rosneft," and "Lukoil." According to their annual report, they also own 97.1k shares of "Novatek," valued at $21k.
According to their 2022 annual report, Eurizon Fund owned 1.2 million shares of "Gazprom," valued at $3.3 million.
The 2022 annual report also indicated they held 43.9k shares of "Lukoil," valued at $2.8 million.
Additionally, the investment fund owned 769,000 shares of "Surgutneftegaz," with preferred shares valued at $360k and common shares valued at $328.4k.
Fideuram Asset Management, through Fonditalia Fund, held 58.7k shares of "Novatek" (1, 2), valued at approximately $11k.
Japanese Companies with Shares in Russian Oil and Gas Companies
According to the report, Japan Arctic LNG holds a 10% ownership stake in Novatek's "Arctic LNG 2" project, valued at $189 million as of March 2024.
Another company, Sakhalin Oil & Gas Development Co., owns 30% of Russia's "Sakhalin-1."
"Sakhalin-2" has distributed shares among two additional Japanese companies:
- Mitsui & Co. — 12.5%;
- DGS Japan Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation — 10% as of March 2023.
Swiss Companies and Their Stakes
19.5% of "Rosneft" belongs to Glencore plc, one of the world's largest trading companies. It specializes in extracting, producing, trading, and transporting various raw materials, including oil and natural gas, metals, and grain.
On December 7, 2016, Rosneft signed an agreement to sell 19.5% of its shares (worth $11 billion) to a joint venture between Glencore and Qatar Investment Authority. Officially, the stake was considered equally divided between Glencore and the Qatari company, but Glencore contributed only €300 million and claimed ownership of just a 0.57% stake. In March 2022, Glencore stated that it had not acquired any new stakes in the Russian company. Still, their participation in Rosneft remained unsold until December 2023 due to Russian authorities freezing any sale of "Rosneft" shares.
As of January 2024, Glencore, through its subsidiary Rambero Holding, held a 31.28% stake in RussNeft.
Chinese Companies with Stakes in Russian Oil and Gas Companies
The Chinese company CNPC holds a 10% stake in Novatek's "Arctic LNG 2" projects and a 20% stake in the "Yamal LNG" project.
Another Chinese company, CNOOC, also holds a 10% stake in "Arctic LNG 2." The Silk Road Fund has a 9.9% stake in "Yamal LNG."
Other Foreign Companies with Stakes in Russian Oil and Gas Companies
Foreign Investments in Russian Oil through Kazakhstan
Another way to profit from Russian oil and gas is through investments made via Kazakhstan.
15% of Russia's oil refining capacity was lost after Ukrainian strikes
In official statements, most Western investor companies claim to be exiting the Russian market. Some assert they still cannot sell their shares due to international sanctions. Some have openly stated that they do not intend to leave Russia, such as the Indian company “ONGC Videsh Ltd.” Additionally, some only announce their exit, like the Dutch companies Schlumberger & Firma Radius-Servis & GeoFit & Petroalliance & NafraMax.
Thus, many foreign companies remain among the oil investors in the Russian oil and gas business. Our analysis did not find their comments regarding the strikes on Russian refineries. Meanwhile, some politicians from the countries where these companies operate have criticized the strikes on Russian refineries.
In the USA, calls were made to stop the attacks on Russian refineries. During a conversation between Zelensky and US Vice President Kamala Harris in February 2024, it was reportedly suggested that attacks on targets in Russia cease. The Biden administration's overall stance is critical of such actions, as they believe these strikes could lead to increased oil prices. However, some politicians in the United States have expressed support for Ukrainian strikes.
French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné stated that Ukraine is acting in self-defense and that Russia is the aggressor.
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron declared that Ukraine is entitled to use weapons provided by the UK to strike targets in Russia, and that the decision should be made by Kyiv.
As of April, Ukrainian strikes had destroyed approximately 15% of Russia's refining capacity. Likely, many foreign oil investors' exit or freezing of assets has also impacted oil production. From March 14 to 20, refineries processed 5.03 million barrels of oil per day, which is lower than the average for the previous 13 days. In the first quarter of 2024, seven Russian refineries stopped operating due to attacks by Ukrainian drones.
Russia was threatened with a fuel shortage, so it turned to Kazakhstan, requesting 100,000 tons of gasoline. It had previously made a similar request to Belarus. Meanwhile, in May 2024, oil and gas revenue increased by 39% to 793.7 billion rubles.
This analysis shows the countries whose oil investors continue to cooperate with Russia despite the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thereby helping to develop Russia's oil and gas industrial machine, which is then converted into Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian populations.
