TotalEnergies CEO joined meeting on Russia at French presidency – Elysee official

By Benjamin Mallet and Michel Rose

PARIS (Reuters) – Patrick Pouyanne, the CEO of TotalEnergies which has become increasingly isolated among oil majors by holding on to its interests in Russia, attended a meeting at the Elysee Palace on Tuesday to discuss the Ukraine crisis and the French government’s position, President Emmanuel Macron’s office said.

The meeting took place after TotalEnergies condemned what it called Moscow’s military aggression in Ukraine but stopped short of joining rivals Shell and BP and Exxon Mobil in announcing an exit from its interests in resource-rich Russia.

TotalEnergies appeared increasingly isolated among western oil and gas majors on Wednesday, but Elysee Palace officials declined to say whether Macron supported the company’s stance.

“TotalEnergies’ announcement has been shared with French authorities, who understand the company’s stance,” a spokesman for the company said.

The Elysee Palace declined to comment on the details of the Tuesday meeting, but said Pouyanne, among others, had met in the context of President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts in the last few years to foster deeper links between French and Russian citizens, a forum whose discusssions have included topics such as education, business and the climate.

Another member of the forum, known as the ‘Trianon Dialogue’ said Tuesday’s meeting had been convened at the last minute.

TotalEnergies holds a 19.4% stake in Novatek, Russia’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas. It also has a 20% stake in the Yamal LNG project, as well as a 10% interest in Arctic LNG 2, which had been scheduled to start production next year.

Russia constituted 24% of TotalEnergies’ proven reserves and 17% of its oil and gas production in 2020.

One source familiar with the thinking inside TotalEnergies said Pouyanne accepted there would be heavy consequences if sanctions were to target the energy sector.

“I believe things will evolve further but you cannot ask TotalEnergies to go beyond what is being asked by governments,” the source told Reuters.

(Reporting by Michel Rose and Benjamin Mallet; Writing by Richard Lough and Louise Heavens;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)