Sometimes criticized for remaining in Russia, TotalEnergies has distanced itself a little more from this strategic country by announcing that it will renounce all purchases of Russian oil or petroleum products by the end of the year at the latest.

The French hydrocarbon giant explained in a press release on Tuesday that it was taking "additional measures" in the face of "the worsening of the conflict" in Ukraine, almost a month after its invasion by Russia.

"TotalEnergies is unilaterally taking the decision to no longer conclude or renew contracts for the purchase of Russian oil and oil products, in order to stop any purchase of Russian oil or oil products as soon as possible and at the latest at the end of the 2022,” the band says.

Concretely, it will look for alternative supplies - in particular via imports by Poland - for its Leuna refinery located in eastern Germany. 

The decision also applies to diesel, which Europe and especially France are very fond of.

This will be imported from elsewhere, in particular from its Satorp refinery in Saudi Arabia (owned with Saudi Aramco).

TotalEnergies had already announced that it would no longer provide capital for new projects in Russia, without however withdrawing from the country, which is very important for its strategy and in which it has been established since the beginning of the 1990s.

The French group is a 19.4% shareholder in the Russian gas giant Novatek and holds a 20% stake in Yamal LNG, a project which was launched at the end of 2017 and which has produced more than 18 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas ( LNG) in 2020. 

The group also holds a 10% stake in Arctic LNG 2, a project whose first LNG delivery is scheduled for 2023.

"Accomplice" of "war crimes"

It confirms that it "will no longer bring capital to the project" and will no longer count it in its proven hydrocarbon reserves given the "uncertainties" that the sanctions pose to the future of the project.

The maintenance of the group in Russia has been criticized, in particular by the environmental candidate for the presidential election Yannick Jadot, who judged the company "accomplice" of "war crimes".

"Serious and unfounded accusations", defends TotalEnergies on Tuesday, specifying its position and recalling that it does not directly exploit any hydrocarbon field in the country.

>> To read: War in Ukraine: the dilemma of the French energy champions present in Russia

Regarding its large holdings, the group believes that it would be counterproductive to abandon them, for lack of finding a non-Russian buyer to buy them back in the current context.

“Abandoning these participations without financial compensation would therefore contribute to enriching Russian investors in contradiction with the very purpose of the sanctions”, notes the company.

She also stresses that these companies are managed independently and that the departure of a shareholder would not change anything.

Finally, TotalEnergies singles out Russian oil and gas, on which Europe is still very dependent.

"TotalEnergies continues to supply Europe with liquefied natural gas from the Yamal LNG plant under long-term contracts that it must honor as long as governments consider Russian gas to be necessary," he said.

Unlike the United States, which announced an embargo on Russian hydrocarbons, the European Union has not sanctioned the Russian energy sector so far.

It gives itself until 2027 to ensure its independence, while some countries like Germany are very dependent on gas from Russia.

With AFP

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