Nearly a month after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, TotalEnergies has announced that it is abandoning all purchases of Russian oil, but not gas. The CEO of the group assured today, at the microphone of RTL, that he could not do without Russian gas without which part of the European economy “would stop”.
“I know how to replace this ‘Russian’ oil and diesel but “gas, I don’t know how to do it. If I decide to stop importing Russian gas, I don’t know how to replace it, I don’t have any available. I have 25-year contracts and I don’t know how to get out of these contracts,” said Patrick Pouyanné. What are the reasons for this decision and its consequences in France and in Europe? Some answers with Olivier Appert, member of the Academy of Technologies and advisor to the energy center of the Institute of International Relations (IFRI).