The British multinational oil and gas giant Shell plc SHEL recently announced that it agreed to sell its retail and lubricant ventures based in Russia to the Russian energy company – Lukoil. This sale is the first substantial agreement in the oil and gas sector ever since most companies from the west vowed to exit the country following Russia’s military operations in Ukraine.

The sale amount is undisclosed and the deal is anticipated to be completed later this year, subject to regulatory consent.

Shell mentioned that the deal includes 411 retail stations, primarily in the Central and Northwestern regions of Russia, and the lubricants blending plant located approximately 200 kilometers northwest of Moscow in Torzhok.

SHEL’s Downstream Director, Huibert Vigeveno, stated that the well-being and interests of Shell employees in Russia have been the company’s principal concern and that this sale would help secure jobs for more than 350 individuals as they would be transferred to the new owner.

“The acquisition of Shell’s high-quality businesses in Russia fits well into LUKOIL’s strategy to develop its priority sales channels, including retail, as well as the lubricants business,” said Maxim Donde, LUKOIL’s Vice President for Refined Products Sales.

The announcement of this sale agreement comes after Shell’s declaration in early March to withdraw from the Russian oil and gas space following the turn of events with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the U.S. economic sanctions against Russia.

Headquartered in London, Shell is one of the primary oil supermajors, a group of U.S. and Europe-based big energy multinationals with operations spanning worldwide. The company is fully integrated as it participates in every aspect related to energy, from oil production to refining and marketing. SHEL operates as an energy and petrochemical company. Shell plc was formerly known as Royal Dutch Shell.

Shell currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors interested in the energy space might look at the following companies. Oasis Petroleum OAS, Ranger Oil ROCC and Murphy USA MUSA each sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Oasis Petroleum’s stock has increased by about 93.8% in a year. Oasis Petroleum beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the trailing four quarters, the average being around 19.6%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for OAS’ 2022 earnings is projected at $35.25 per share, up about 270.3% from the projected year-ago earnings of $9.52.