Total severs Russian oil supply contracts
French oil giant TotalEnergies said it would cut off the Russian gasoil and crude oil supply contracts for its German refinery today, after facing fierce criticism for not following suit with Shell and BP in divesting from its assets.
The firm now plans to source gasoil from Saudi Arabia and crude via Poland instead, it announced in a statement.
Total has stakes in several Russian projects but said European sanctions and Russian laws controlling foreign investment have prevented it from offloading its Russian assets to non-Russian buyers.
Abandoning the assets, it said, would “enrich Russian investors, in contradiction with the sanctions’ purpose.”
The oil giant did rule out providing fresh capital for new projects in Russia shortly after BP and Shell announced they would be dumping their stakes in Russian energy projects last month.
BP announced it would exit its holding in 19.75 per cent stake in state-backed oil giant Rosneft last month, while boss Bernard Looney also resigned form the board with immediate effect.
Shortly after BP’s announcement Shell followed suit and said it would dump its joint ventures with Gazprom and related entities, including ending its involvement in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.
“Our decision to exit is one we take with conviction,” said Shell’s chief executive officer, Ben van Beurden.
“We cannot – and we will not – stand by.”