Russian oil and gas stocks crash in early March 2 trading in London
Shares in Gazprom plummeted 97% in early trading on March 2 on the London stock exchange to less than $250mn, as sweeping Western sanctions imposed against Russia in recent days plunging the country into economic chaos.
By 11:00 GMT, Gazprom's stock price had fallen to just $0.03/share, down from $0.76 at the close of the previous session and $9.30 at the start of the year. Its market capitalisation was $33.1bn on March 1.
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Other Russian oil and gas stocks have been similarly afflicted. By 11:30 GMT, shares in the country's top LNG exporter Novatek had fallen 96% to $0.61 apiece, shrinking its market capitalisation to $163mn. Meanwhile stock in Rosneft at that point had fallen 67% to $0.88, valuing the overall company at $9bn.
Gazprom famously said in 2008 it wanted to become the world's largest company with a market capitalisation of $1 trillion. That goal was never realised, and the stock has taken a hammering in recent months as a result of growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, culminating in Moscow's all-out invasion of Ukraine on February 24. The conflict has led Western nations to impose unprecedented sanctions on Russia's economy, including restrictions placed on a number of its leading banks, such as a block on their use of the SWIFT financial messaging system.