Does TotalEnergies play an indirect role in the war in Ukraine? Siberian gas produced by a company co-owned by the French oil group made it possible to manufacture fuel intended to supply Russian warplanes engaged in the conflict, the newspaper accused on Wednesday August 24 The worldwhich is based on several documents and an investigation by the NGO Global Witness.
According to them, the Russian gas field of Termokarstovoye operated by the company Terneftegaz – jointly owned by the French group at 49% with the Russian Novatek (51%) – supplied gas condensate to a refinery near Omsk, which made fuel, which was then shipped to power Russian aircraft until at least July. The affair resonates as far as the government since the Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune, called on Thursday to “shed light” on the accusations against TotalEnergies, assuring that it was an “extremely serious subject”. .
For its part, the French major denies. The energy company indicated, this Friday, in a communicated that the fuel produced by their joint venture is not intended for Russian warplanes and hopes that an “end will be put to this baseless controversy which is damaging the reputation of the company”. On this subject, Olivier Appert, energy adviser to the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), speaks of “grotesque” accusations.
L’Express: How do you react to the article in the World and his accusations against the French oil flagship?
Olivier Appert: It is very delicate, the investigation of the World puzzles me. Going to target the molecules of natural gas liquid which arrive in a plane which will then bomb Ukraine, that makes me wonder insofar as there are forty refineries in Russia and where the Omsk refinery owned by Gazprom Neft has been processing decades of products from other gas supplies.
I prefer to stick to the very clear statements made by Patrick Pouyannethe CEO of TotalEnergies, saying that the group respects the embargo and no longer buys gas, oil or petroleum products from Russia.
TotalEnergies defends itself by saying that it is the minority shareholder of the company Terneftegaz, which exploits this deposit, but is the majority shareholder Novatek alone to take all the decisions with 51% of the shares of the joint venture?
Total has no operational responsibility, that is the role of Novateck. There is no rule written in stone, but the minority shareholder de facto only has the power to consult. Eventually, depending on the contracts, the minority shareholder can assert a power of veto over certain decisions.
No two contracts are identical, but when one does not hold the majority, one does not benefit from full powers. Above all, if they relate to operational decisions – which consist, in this case, of directing natural gas liquids towards such and such a refinery, it is not a decision that is the responsibility of a minority shareholder.
In your opinion, is the position of TotalEnergies, the only company among its peers to continue its activity in Russia, tenable?
This is a question that arises from political and media considerations on which I cannot comment.
Was Total’s audit work, promised by the company at the start of the war, on its Russian holdings failing?
I have no specific information on the subject, Total said that the company no longer made any investment in Russia. If the group went against its commitment, we would know quickly. Total is a sufficiently responsible company to say what it does and do what it says.
Should the companies still present in Russia but which no longer have an operational role have to give up everything?
If there is a decision of force majeure which is taken by the governments, indeed, they will leave. This is what Patrick Pouyanné said very clearly.
Isn’t this a gift to be given to the Russians who will find national or Asian shareholders to recover these stakes?
Of course, this is a gift we are giving to the Russians and the Chinese, insofar as we draw a line under the investments that have been made. However, Total’s investments amount to billions of euros. Concretely, this means that in exchange for a symbolic euro, everything is given to people close to Putin or to the Chinese.
And once we have arrived at a credible peace, what will happen? Russia will always be an important energy player and we cannot ignore it. One thing is certain: the war in Ukraine will take us out of the absolute confidence that prevailed over energy cooperation between Europe and Russia for fifty years. But cutting all ties with Russia would be suicidal in the long term and extremely costly.