TotalEnergies reaffirmed its commitment to stop purchasing Russian oil, gas, and petroleum products, adding that it will not provide any further capital for developing new investments in Russia due to its attack on Ukraine.
It said elaborated that it does not operate any oil and gas fields or liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Russia, adding that it has decided to withdraw from the Arctic LNG 2 project and will stop financing it.
Concerning petroleum products, TotalEnergies stated that it will no longer renew or enter into contracts to buy Russian oil and petroleum products noting that it will terminate all previous purchasing contracts by the end of 2022 at the latest.
After ending such contracts, the company said that it will find alternative resources to import from other countries. Moreover, it added that at the end of February it ceased all its spot market trading on Russian oil and natural gas.
However, the company clarified that it has minority shares in a number of non-state-owned Russian companies including Novatek (19.4%), Yamal LNG (20%), Arctic LNG 2 (10%), and TerNefteGaz (49%) in addition to 20% share in the Kharyaga joint venture operated by Zarubezhneft. The company affirmed that these companies are managed and operated by their own staff with a little number of secondees, adding that it initiated a gradual suspension of its activities in Russia while ensuring the safety of its teams.
Also, it pointed to its difficult situation to get rid of its interests because of the Russian laws. “The current environment of European sanctions and Russian laws controlling foreign investments in Russia would prevent TotalEnergies to find a non-Russian buyer for its minority interests in Russia. Abandoning these interests without consideration would enrich Russian investors, in contradiction with the sanctions’ purpose. In addition, abandoning these minority interests held by TotalEnergies would have no impact on the companies’ operations and revenues, since these companies have their own employees and are managed autonomously,” the company stated in a press release.
Meanwhile, TotalEnergies assured its commitment to secure oil and gas supply for Europe.“TotalEnergies continues to supply Europe with liquefied natural gas from the Yamal LNG plant within the framework of long-term contracts that it must honor as long as Europe’s governments consider that Russian gas is necessary. Contrary to oil, it is apparent that Europe’s gas logistics capacities make it difficult to refrain from importing Russian gas in the next two to three years without impacting the continent’s energy supply,” the company stated.
