Demining operation. Wednesday, February 8 in the morning, when the announcement by TotalEnergies fell of a historic profit of 20.5 billion dollars (or 19.1 billion euros) for the year 2022, the CEO of the oil company, Patrick Pouyanné, announced: “If the liter of diesel exceeds 2 euros, [le groupe] could carry out new targeted rebate actions at the pump. » “Rather than starting a debate around an exceptional tax on profits, we prefer to take purchasing power measures that the French feel directly”pleaded Mr. Pouyanné, in an interview published on the website of Parisian. The group had already granted rebates in its service stations in 2022, coupled with a rebate from the State, without extinguishing the controversy over its exceptional profits, driven by the surge in the price of hydrocarbons against a backdrop of war in Ukraine.
“It is an intention, nothing is stopped for the momentsays TotalEnergies At World about the discount. This will be done according to the social situation and the repercussions on the price of fuels that the new embargo will have. on Russian gasoline and diesel [depuis le 5 février]. » “We are ready to see what needs to be done”had still assured, a few hours earlier in a press conference, Mr. Pouyanné, however suggesting that it would also depend on the strike movements in progress on the pension reform. “October’s lesson [au moment des grèves dans les raffineries]is that we are not going to make discounts to put pressure on our service station networks at a time when there are threats to the country’s supply ”he warned.
The executive immediately rushed into the breach. “I heard Total’s desire to set up a rebate and we welcome it”, said Olivier Véran at the end of the Council of Ministers. The government spokesman, who assured that he understood that the amount of the profits of TotalEnergies “may shock”made a point of specifying that they “are not made in France, far from it” – the group’s main argument to explain why it has only paid corporate income tax seven times in France since 2007.
Because the file remains explosive. If the pension reform still threw at least 757,000 people into the street on Tuesday, “nearly two million”, according to the CGT and the inter-union, purchasing power also remains at the heart of the concerns of the French. The tightening, since the beginning of the year, of the tariff shield, which now allows a 15% increase in gas and electricity bills to pass, is combined with soaring food prices and fears, therefore, of another rise in prices at the pump.
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