BP to Be ‘Mostly’ Free of Russian Supply Contracts by Year-End

May 3, 2022

(Bloomberg) BP Plc has rid its European refineries of Russian crude and expects to end the bulk of its long-term supply contracts with the country by the end of the year.The U.K. energy major is among a number of European companies shunning new purchases of Russian oil and gas in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Yet some are still tied into long-term deals that slow their efforts to extricate themselves from Moscow.

“We’re working incredibly hard to eliminate Russian molecules from the system,” BP Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney said in an interview on Tuesday. “We’re complying with existing contracts — they’re really only a very small number right now and I would think that we’d be mostly cleared from all of them by the end of the year.”

London-based competitor Shell Plc has come under fire for buying a spot cargo of Russian Urals at a record-low discount in March, and for including terms in oil-product bids that allowed for purchases of fuel that could be part-Russian. Shell has since halted such spot deals and amended its refined-products policy.

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BP’s own policy doesn’t allow it to buy any refined oil that has been blended with Russian products, according to Looney.

“We’re working very, very hard and the amount of Russian molecules in the system is down,” the CEO said. “It’s probably very low, I don’t have an exact number.”

The company has completely cleared its four European refineries — in Spain, the Netherlands and Germany — of Russian feedstocks, Looney said on a call with analysts following an earnings report earlier Tuesday.