LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell said it hasdeclared force majeure on an exploration project in Ukraine,which is close to the site where flight MH17 crashed, althoughit was too early to assess the impact of sanctions on Russia onthe company.
The Anglo-Dutch oil and gas company has been exploring forshale gas in Ukraine and its assets in Russia include a stake inSakhalin-2, one of the world's largest liquefied natural gasprojects.
"I think it is relatively close. We were in roughly the sameregion," Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said at a newsconference, referring to the location of the MH17 crash site.
"The operation that we had on the unconventional explorationprogramme in that general area is on hold, as a matter of factit was technically on hold for evaluation purposes."
"We've also declared force majeure as you can imagine simplybecause we cannot continue the operations there."
Speaking on a conference call to discuss Shell's earnings,van Beurden said it was too soon to assess what the impact ofWestern sanctions on Russia would be.
"It is easy to think of what has happened and all the eventsthat have followed on from it as a bit of a game changer," hesaid.
"But it is a bit early to say how this will all play out. We are not as exposed to Russia as some of our competitors." (Reporting by Alex Lawler; editing by Jason Neely)
