LNG

French major TotalEnergies has provided revised key indicators for the forthcoming second-quarter earnings where oil and gas production and the LNG, power and downstream businesses would be affected.

China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec), the leading Chinese refiner and importer of LNG from Australia, the US and Qatar and with expanding import facilities and storage infrastructure, is pushing ahead with more offshore output in the East China Sea and onshore shale-gas and shale-oil production.

Baker Hughes, the US liquefied natural gas equipment-maker and energy services company, said the United States was in danger of surrendering market share in the production and export of LNG to replace coal in Asia and elsewhere to make a cleaner environment.

Qatar Gas Transport Company, known as Nakilat and a global leader in liquefied natural gas shipping, is expanding its fleet to 80 ships through 2027 with orders just placed with a  South Korean shipyard for six new gas carriers.

Qatar Gas Transport Company, known as Nakilat and with a liquefied natural gas fleet of 69 vessels, reported a jump in net profits as the company’s ships satisfied rising global demand.

TotalEnergies, the French major with multiple energy and LNG projects under development, has pledged at a two-day meeting of the board to maintain a multi-energy strategy with current Chairman and Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanné at the helm.

The company said the board met on September 20-21 in Paris to review the strategic outlook in the context of “changing energy markets because of the energy transition and evolving geopolitical” events.

TotalEnergies has oil and gas interests from Argentina to Asia and is a leading global LNG market participants. Its immediate LNG plans include developing the huge onshore Mozambique LNG export project,  expanding LNG production in Papua New Guinea and taking part in the liquefaction build-out in Qatar.

Relevance

The board noted the relevance of the company’s balanced multi-energy strategy considering the developments in the oil, gas and electricity markets. 

“Thanks to refocusing the oil and gas portfolio on assets and projects with low breakeven and low greenhouse gas emissions, and to the diversification into electricity, notably renewable, through an integrated strategy from production to customer, the company is in a very favorable position to take advantage of changing energy markets and prices” the board said in a statement.

With a breakeven anchored below $25 a barrel of oil, TotalEnergies said it was a much more “efficient and profitable company today than it was 10 years ago” at the same oil equivalent price.

The board noted that the company managed to generate an additional $15 billion of cash flow in 2022. 

“Thus, by end-2022, the company benefits from a fortress balance sheet and is positioned to both implement its transition strategy and to guarantee an attractive shareholder return policy,” the board added.

Continuity

The board said that while it was reaffirming its support for the “quality and the relevance” of the strategy, which will be presented to investors on September 27, the Board considers as appropriate to ensure the continuity of the company’s governance and leadership.

“The board, thus, considers that it is highly desirable that Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO, continues to drive this strategy’s deployment at the helm of the company,” the company declared.

“On the proposal of the Governance and Ethics Committee, it has therefore unanimously decided that the renewal of the mandate of Patrick Pouyanné will be proposed to the General Meeting in May 2024,” it said.

Jacques Aschenbroich, the lead independent director at the French major, underlined and also expressed his confidence in the current leadership.

“Since 2014, Patrick has done an extraordinary job leading TotalEnergies in a complex environment, delivering outstanding financial results and engaging the company in the energy transition quicker and stronger than its peers,” said Aschenbroich. 

“The board unanimously looks forward to his continued leadership and his strategic vision,” stated Aschenbroich.

ExxonMobil Corp., the US major and significant participant in the liquefied natural gas business, said oil, pipeline natural gas and LNG would still make up more than half of the world’s energy supply through 2050 because the usefulness of oil and gas in meeting the world’s needs remained unmatched.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have been pushing their claim in recent days to the offshore Durra natural gas field in the Arabian Gulf that is also being claimed by Iran and the Iranians have threatened to move in now and start drilling.

QatarEnergy, the leading liquefied natural producer, signed agreements with Chinese major China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), covering the long-term supply of LNG to China and a stake in the North Field East (NFE) LNG expansion project.

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, the Japanese shipping company known as K-Line, is planning an LNG carrier growth strategy focused on Qatar and with ship management operations being moved into southeast Asia.