War in Ukraine: TotalEnergies will stop buying Russian oil
The headquarters of TotalEnergies in the La Défense district of Paris. © Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes
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The French group TotalEnergies undertakes to no longer buy Russian oil and petroleum products “
by the end of 2022 at the latest
”.
The oil group promises alternative sources to supply Europe.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, pressure has continued to increase on TotalEnergies, which had condemned “
Russia's military aggression against Ukraine
” but had maintained its activities there.
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Most of the Western oil and gas giants, Shell, Exxon Mobil, BP had announced a withdrawal from Russia, TotalEnergies had been trying to save the day for several weeks until the storm subsided.
But the criticisms have only piled up: environmental NGOs have stepped up attacks while the candidate Europe Écologie Les Verts (EELV) in the presidential election, Yannick Jadot, has gone so far as to accuse the company of complicity a "
war crime
".
This time, the French oil company therefore gave in and explained in a press release that “
faced with the worsening of the conflict
”, additional measures are being taken in order to “
act responsibly
”.
TotalEnergies
will therefore stop all purchases of Russian petroleum or petroleum products “
by the end of the year at the latest
”, even though the European Union has not imposed an embargo on black gold.
While Europe imports 12% of its diesel from Russia, the group thus plans to substitute imports from other continents, in particular from the Saudi refinery Satorp, in which it is a shareholder with Aramco.
►Also read: Ukraine: the EU puts the total embargo on Russian oil again on the sanctions table
The group will also gradually suspend its activities in Russia, but refuses for the moment to sell its stakes in its gas assets.
Even if it will not bring "
more capital
" to the megaproject of the liquefied natural gas plant (LNG) Artic LNG 2, whose start-up was hitherto planned for 2023, it "
continues to ensure the supply of Europe in LNG from the Yamal LNG plant
", this giant gas liquefaction site in the north of the country which has produced since December 2017 nearly 18 million tonnes of LNG per year, i.e. 16.6% of TotalEnergies' annual gas production in 2020.
For good reason, the company “
finds itself bound by long-term contracts that it must honor as long as the governments consider that Russian gas is necessary
”, specifies TotalEnergies in its press release.
To justify itself, the group highlights the decision of the European Union to maintain, at this stage, the supply of Russian gas, which represents more than 80% of the hydrocarbon production of TotalEnergies in the country, despite the war in Ukraine.
In fact, Moscow continues to supply abundant fossil fuels to the Old Continent, which has provided it in exchange with nearly 17 billion euros since the start of the conflict on February 24.
(
With
AFP)
►Also read: Oil: can Russian barrels be replaced?
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