(AOF) – The Combined General Meeting of TotalEnergies SE shareholders met on May 26, 2023 under the chairmanship of Patrick Pouyanné. The General Assembly issued a favorable advisory opinion on the Sustainability & Climate – Progress Report 2023, reporting on the progress made in implementing the company’s ambition in terms of sustainable development and energy transition towards neutrality carbon and its objectives in this area for 2030.
The shareholders thus voted in favor of the advisory resolution proposed by the Board of Directors by a very large majority, with 89% of the votes cast, confirming the vote cast by the shareholders in 2022 as well as the Company’s strategy.
Conversely, the advisory resolution tabled by a group of shareholders concerning so-called scope 3 indirect emissions was rejected by 70% of the votes cast, thus following the Board’s recommendation. The Board of Directors will continue its dialogue with all shareholders regarding the Company’s climate strategy.
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Key points
– Integrated energy group, 3rd world oil company, 2nd gas company and world number in solar energy with Sun Power;
– Activity of $141 billion organized into 4 branches: 45% for marketing & services (distribution networks, etc.), 40% in refining & chemicals, 11% in renewables, gas and electricity, then exploration- production ;
– Economic model of transformation in ten years into a multi-energy group, producer of oil & LNG (liquefied natural gas), renewable energies & electricity and hydrogen & biomass;
– Open capital (6.4% held by employees), the 12-member Board of Directors being chaired by Patrick Pouyanné, also Chief Executive Officer;
– Solid balance sheet: debt ratio of 7% and return on equity of 32%.
Challenges
– 2020-2030 strategy + energy, – emissions:
– change in the distribution of sales -30% petroleum products, 50% gas, 15% electricity and 5% biomass and hydrogen,
– discipline in investments -$13 to $15 billion per year over 2022-2025, of which 50% allocated to renewables and electricity and 50% to natural gas;
– Innovation strategy led by One Tech, endowed with $850 million for 18 R&D centers:
– 3 hubs: industrial, development and support,
– 5 programs: production, CO2 and sustainability, operational efficiency of upstream, downstream & polymers, fuel and lubricants,
– a digital factory to generate $1.5 billion in savings by 2025;
– Environmental Strategy 2050:
– carbon neutrality for the group’s operations and products sold in Europe, reduction of 60% or more in the carbon intensity of products used outside Europe;
– 4 axes: growth in the gas value chains (natural, biogas and hydrogen), in low-carbon electricity (annual budget of $1.5 to 2 billion), in low breakeven oil, in biofuels , in activities contributing to carbon neutrality (natural wells, forests, etc.),
– solar and renewables: production capacity of 25 Gw by 2025,
– carbon fund endowed with $400 million to be invested by 2025;
– In renewables & electricity, capacity portfolio of 35 GW by 2025, including +20 GW secured by long-term purchase contracts;
– Acceleration of the energy transition with equity investments in 2 Qatari and Indian projects (solar, LNG and hydrogen) and in Clearway, 5th American in renewables, 29% of industrial investments going to low-carbon energies;
– Industrial excellence in oil production with a breakeven point of -20 $/b, with numerous projects in progress (Nigeria) and 4 discoveries (Brazil, Cyprus, Namidia and Suriname).
Challenges
– Sensitivity to the price of a barrel of oil and to the dollar, a variation of $0.1 having an impact of $100 million on operating profit, a variation of $10 per barrel having an impact of $2.7 billion;
– Russia-Ukraine war: impairment of €4.1 billion on the stake in the Russian company Novatek;
– Prospects for 2023 of a 2% increase in hydrocarbon production, driven by the start-up of the Omani, Brazilian and Azerbaijani fields, by advances in LNG (2 new terminals in Europe) and by a 30% increase in the production of renewable electricity, all supported by $16 to $18 billion in investments;
– Total dividend for 2022 of €2.81, i.e. a payment of €0.74 for the last installment, forecast of 3 installments in 2023 for an amount of €0.74 and confirmation of share buybacks for $2 billion at 1st quarter, triggered according to the formula 40% of the cash flow generated by hydrocarbon prices above $60 per barrel.
Find out more about the “oil and para-petroleum” sector
Biogas to green activities
Obtained through the decomposition of waste, it falls into the category of green energy. It is part of the strategy of many countries, particularly in Europe, to reduce their dependence on hydrocarbon imports. The oil groups have strong ambitions in the field, as revealed by two recent operations. The British BP took over the American Archaea Energy for 4.1 billion dollars. Then, the Anglo-Dutch, Shell, announced the acquisition of the Danish Nature Energy for 2 billion dollars. These transactions show high valuation levels, underlining the strong potential of the sector. TotalEnergies had already taken a stake in the American Clean Energy Fuels Corp in 2018, of which it now holds 19%. It recently joined forces with Veolia to recover biomethane from waste treatment facilities.