Nearly a month after the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the French group announced on Tuesday that it had renounced all purchases of Russian oil or petroleum products by the end of the year at the latest. On the other hand, Patrick Pouyanné, the CEO of TotalEnergies affirms on RTL that Russian gas is essential under penalty of seeing part of the European economy come to a standstill.
“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,” he explained.
Concerning the announcement of the withdrawal from Russia of certain Anglo-Saxon groups, the CEO of TotalEnergies affirms that “no one has left, my competitors continue to take Russian gas because we have long-term contracts and we do not does not know how to stop them, unless the governments decide on sanctions which make it possible to use force majeure. If I stop Russian gas, I pay billions immediately to the Russians,” he added.
“In January 2023 it will be necessary to ration the use of gas”
“Without Russian gas, we stop part of the European economy” and, at this stage, European governments have not decided to sanction Russian gas, he recalls, adding: “if we stop Russian gas , we know that in the winter of 2023, we have a problem, in January 2023 the use of gas will have to be rationed, not for individuals but probably for industrialists in Europe. »
When asked whether TotalEnergies was going to leave Russia, Patrick Pouyanné showed great reserve. “I’m not going to do it, we have invested in factories for almost 13 billion dollars, it’s not a problem of money, these factories will continue to run whether I leave or not. To withdraw is to give these 13 billion to the Russians, for zero because no one can buy them. You want me to give up assets in Russia to enrich Russians who have been put under sanction? “, he launched.
According to him, the abandonment of Russia would not however call into question the future of TotalEnergies. “Russia was 5% of our cash flow, 10% of our results, the company is not at stake at all. Since Mr. Putin decided to invade Ukraine, there is no future of growth in Russia for TotalEnergies. I put a cross on all the future that we were building in Russia. Do you think that even after the war, I won’t remember what happened? “, he concluded.