PARIS/LONDON, (Reuters) – French oil major TotalEnergies TTEF.PAsaid on Tuesday it would not renew its Russian gasoil and crude oil supply contracts for its German refinery, but would source gasoil from Saudi Arabia and crude via Poland instead.
The firm, with stakes in several Russian projects, has come under criticism after it stopped short of joining rivals Shell <SHEL.L> and BP BP.L in planning to divest oil and gas assets in Russia.
European sanctions and Russian laws controlling foreign investment prevents TotalEnergies from finding a non-Russian buyer for its assets, it said. “Abandoning these interests without consideration would enrich Russian investors, in contradiction with the sanctions’ purpose.”
TotalEnergies aims to satisfy 10% of global LNG markets by 2025 with 50 million tonnes a year. Russia is a key source, via the Yamal LNG project and the not-yet-operational Arctic LNG 2 project.
The French firm said it would “no longer record proved reserves for Arctic LNG 2 in its accounts and will not provide any more capital for this project.” It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.