Shell chairman Jeroen van der Veer has told NOS radio that the company had found it very difficult to deal with pressure from the Russian government over the Sakhalin II oil and gas project.

‘The Russian agenda has been clear for years; the government wanted more influence over natural resources. But we did not anticipate the enormous pressure on the environmental side,’ Van der Veer said.
After losing several environmental permits, Shell agreed last month to sell half of its interests in Sakhalin II to Russian gas firm Gazprom for $7.45bn.