Is TotalEnergies (ex-Total) starting to give in under the pressure? Since the start of the war in Ukraine led by the Russian army on February 24, the company headed by Patrick Pouyanné has distinguished itself by being the only Western oil group to continue its activities in Russia. On Tuesday March 22, in an unusually long and detailed press release, TotalEnergies finally adopted an intermediate position: the group announced the end of all purchases of Russian oil or petroleum products. A decision that will be effective “as soon as possible and at the latest by the end of 2022”, promises the text. The decision also applies to diesel, which will now be imported in larger volumes from Saudi Arabia.
But the group maintains, on the other hand, its most important activities in the country: gas deliveries and its participation in large liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in the Arctic. These measures were taken due to the“escalation of the conflict”, specifies the French company. 1er March, it had contented itself with promising that it would no longer finance new projects in Russia. This first measure contrasted with the radical orientations taken by the other major European oil companies, such as the British BP, the Dutch Shell or the Italian ENI, which announced the end of all their commitments in Russia at the start of the war.
“History will judge your choices”, warns economic adviser Oleg Ustenko, on behalf of the Ukrainian president
The French government, after raising its voice, seemed to leave TotalEnergies free to choose. The group’s decision comes as the European Union (EU) is due to discuss, Thursday, March 24, the possibility of a medium-term embargo on Russian oil. An option strongly supported by the United States. US President Joe Biden has already announced that his country would do without Moscow’s “black gold” – knowing that the United States is much less dependent than the EU on imports.
Courier accuser
The Ukrainian power also has TotalEnergies in its sights. Patrick Pouyanné thus received, on Monday, an accusing letter from Oleg Ustenko, the economic adviser to the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky. In this letter, of which The world obtained a copy, Mr. Ustenko asks the CEO of Total to support Ukraine by “terminating all business relations with the Russian fossil fuel industry” and of “cut off the cash flow funding the mass murder of innocent people”.
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