Baker Hughes, the multinational oilfield services giant, sent oil and gas drilling equipment to Russia from Scotland despite calls from the Scottish government for businesses in the country to stop trade with Russia, the Scottish Herald reported.
Citing documents revealed by a journalism co-operative called The Ferret, the Herald reported that Baker Hughes had filed with the Russian customs office 21 million pounds worth of import registrations in September last year, which is equal to some $26 million.
In the meantime, The Herald noted, Baker Hughes has received 4.9 million pounds, or about $6.07 million, from the Scottish government in the form of grants.
"There is no suggestion that the business broke the law or any international trade sanctions, but the transaction still went ahead in spite of the Scottish Government's appeal," the report also said.
The equipment was purchased for the Arctic LNG 2 project led by Novatek. The project counted TotalEnergies among its shareholders but the French supermajor sold its stake last year amid the exodus of energy companies from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
Despite the exodus, Novatek increased its shipments of LNG to Europe last year, by 13.5 percent to 14.65 million tons, amid a sharp reduction in pipeline flows from Russia following a barrage of sanctions coming from the European Union.
Baker Hughes, meanwhile, was not in a rush to exit its Russian business altogether. At first, it said it would suspend new investments in its Russian operations but did not say it would up and leave.
It was later in the year, in August, that the major said it had agreed to sell its Russian business to its local management. The transaction was finalized in November. Fellow oil field services major Schlumberger also sold its Russian business to its local management.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More
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