TotalEnergies (ex-Total) does not budge. The tanker continues to bet heavily on liquefied natural gas (LNG, or LNG in English), despite the strong disapproval of environmental defense associations. This energy transported by boat presupposes extraction by hydraulic fracturing, when it comes to shale gas. Method prohibited in France, because new for the climate, but very practiced in the United States.
Thursday, July 13, the French energy giant formalized the final investment decision to participate in the construction of a liquefaction plant in the United States. The Rio Grande LNG megaproject, in Brownsville (Texas), is being developed by the American company NextDecade and co-financed by the investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners.
The French group intends to take 5.4 million tonnes per year (Mtpa) for twenty years, starting in 2027. That is just under a third of the total capacity of the three liquefaction trains planned for this first phase. Their overall cost was calculated at 14.8 billion dollars (about 13.25 billion euros). The French company acquires almost 17% of the shares in the project. Likewise, it intends to increase its stake in NextDecade, up to 17.5%, by the end of the year.
More than 15 million tons per year exported by 2030
By 2030, all projects combined, TotalEnergies expects to export more than 15 Mtpa from the United States. Its CEO, Patrick Pouyanné, highlights the ” low production costs » US LNG. A chance, according to him, for contribute to the security of gas supply in Europe”. Since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, the Member States of the European Union (EU) have sought to free themselves from Russian deliveries. According to Mr. Pouyanné, American LNG also makes it possible to “ provide Asian customers with an alternative energy half the emissions of coal” with regard to the greenhouse gas responsible for global warming.
This new investment confirms “Total’s expansion in fossil fuels in general and, since 2018, in LNG in particular”criticizes Edina Ifticene, campaign manager for the NGO Greenpeace. “The group is moving in the direction of profits rather than that of the energy transition”she continues, even though he also communicates on investments in renewable energies. “The company presents LNG as a miracle solution, especially since the war in Ukraine, where it would above all be necessary to reduce gas demand. Contrary to the recommendations of the International Energy Agency, this heavy investment still locks us into LNG for many years. »
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