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Shareholders of Credit Suisse and UBS were not granted a vote on the deal that was sealed over one weekend in March. Officials for QIA, UBS, the Swiss finance ministry and Credit Suisse declined to comment. QIA's investment in Credit Suisse dates back to the global financial crisis of 2008. The sovereign wealth fund had increased its stake in Credit Suisse to just under 7%, only trailing largest shareholder Saudi National Bank's roughly 10% stake, according to a January filing. Among them, Middle Eastern backers which own more than 20% of Credit Suisse face the largest hit.

☆ French antitrust body tells Meta to change conditions for access to ad verification
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, May 4 (Reuters) - France's anti-trust watchdog on Thursday gave Facebook-owner META (META.O) two months to change its access rules for ad verification partners, saying the company was potentially taking unfair advantage of a dominant market position in online advertising. Ad verification companies offer services including measuring how many views online ads receive, detecting fraudulent online traffic, and ensuring client ads do not appear on websites harming their brand, such as pornographic sites. The case was brought by Adloox, a small, independent French ad verification company, which sought unsuccessfully to be granted access to Meta's data for these services from 2016 to 2022. Adloox complained to the competition authority last year, and the authority found that the barrier to entry created by Meta constituted an "immediate and grave" harm to Adloox specifically, as well as to the independent ad verification sector as a whole. Reporting by America Hernandez, writing by Tassilo Hummel, editing by Silvia AloisiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Companies TotalEnergies SE FollowBAGHDAD, May 3 (Reuters) - Iraq and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) expect to kick-start a long-delayed $27 billion project within the next two weeks, Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said on Wednesday. Abdel-Ghani said at a conference in Baghdad he expected five side agreements related to the deal to be signed in the next two weeks, paving the way for implementation to commence. Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said last week the two sides had reached an agreement on Iraq's stake in the project. "I think (it) is a good setup with our finalising of all the paperwork," Pouyanne said on TotalEnergies' first-quarter results call last week. "The government of Iraq confirmed the whole contract, no modification at all ... so that was for me more than a good news," Pouyanne said.

☆ TotalEnergies sheds Canadian oil sands, promises to reward shareholders
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( America Hernandez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TotalEnergies said its first-quarter adjusted net income fell 27% to $6.5 billion - in line with analyst expectations - due to lower energy prices. It also confirmed it expected net investments of $16-18 billion this year, including $5 billion for low-carbon energies. After European refining capacity was hampered by French strikes in the first quarter, TotalEnergies anticipates its facilities will ramp back up above 80%. TotalEnergies' share price was down around 1% in early trade, in line with falls across the sector and relatively weak oil prices . Analysts said its results were positive, as was the sale of carbon intensive oil sands given investors' focus on lower carbon energy.

Companies TotalEnergies SE FollowBAGHDAD, April 4 (Reuters) - Baghdad has reached an agreement to hold a 30% stake in TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) long-delayed $27 billion Iraq project, two sources told Reuters on Tuesday. The deal was signed in 2021 for TotalEnergies to build four oil, gas and renewables projects with an initial investment of $10 billion in southern Iraq over 25 years. Iraq's demand for a 40% share in the project was a key sticking point as TotalEnergies wants a majority stake. The agreement to lower the share to 30% was struck after meetings in Baghdad over the past few days, an industry source said. "The deal should be activated within days," a senior Iraqi oil ministry official said.

Operations were normal at the company's Normandy site in the north, while the Feyzin refinery in the southeast was operating almost normally, the person added. A union official said earlier that the Normandy refinery would be stopped this weekend. At oil major ExxonMobil's (XOM.N) Esso-branded Port Jerome refinery in Normandy, workers have been called to strike from Saturday at 2 p.m. (1300 GMT), a CGT union official said. It was unclear whether Esso's Fos-sur-Mer refinery in the south would be similarly affected. Reporting by Benjamin Mallet, Forrest Crellin and America Hernandez; Editing by Jan Harvey and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ French environment minister urges restrictions to avoid water crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( America Hernandez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Eric GaillardPARIS, March 6 (Reuters) - France's 100 departmental prefects should not hesitate to enact quick decrees restricting local water use given alarmingly low groundwater levels, French Environment Minister Christophe Béchu said on Monday. The announcement came after Béchu met virtually with prefects to get a view of the country's overall water situation as the country experiences its driest winter since 1959. Low water levels last summer impacted hydroelectric production and forced reduced power output at France's nuclear plants, which use river water to cool reactors. In several parts of France there was also an interruption of drinking water, which Béchu said he was keen to avoid this year. A national water resource management plan, initially expected in January, is now slated to be published before the end of March, the ministry said.

MADRID/PARIS/STOCKHOLM, March 2 (Reuters) - France and Spain are poised to announce a breakthrough this week in a long-running impasse over hefty costs of what would be their first undersea electricity link, a minister and sources in both countries told Reuters. That was due to unforeseen seabed instability on the French side that required costly re-routing, and rising costs of raw materials. Spain is a growing producer of renewable energy that it exports to France and it wants its neighbour to pay most of the extra costs. That had led to disagreement amid wider tensions between them about pipeline connections and protectionism. Spanish sources said the go-ahead would likely mean that France, whose nuclear power industry has been beset by problems, finally agreed to pay more.

☆ French court dismisses Uganda lawsuit against TotalEnergies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( America Hernandez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies TotalEnergies SE FollowPARIS, Feb 28 (Reuters) - A French civil court ruled on Tuesday that a lawsuit brought by campaigners against energy major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) over its oil projects in Uganda and Tanzania was inadmissible. TotalEnergies in a statement to Reuters said the court had found it "formally established a vigilance plan comprising the five items required by the duty of vigilance law, in sufficient detail so as not to be considered purely summary". The court in its ruling, the first based on the 2017 law, said nothing prevented France from enacting laws that govern the overseas activities of companies present in France. TotalEnergies had argued a French court did not have jurisdiction over the overseas activities of its subsidiary TotalEnergies EP Uganda. Reporting by America Hernandez and Benjamin Mallet; editing by Silvia Aloisi and Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ French court to rule on landmark TotalEnergies Uganda case
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( America Hernandez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

PARIS, Feb 27 (Reuters) - A French court on Tuesday could order oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) to halt the development of an east Africa pipeline in a landmark case based on legislation that makes big companies liable for risks to the environment and human rights. TotalEnergies has argued that its vigilance, compensation and relocalisation plans are fair and legal, and that a French court does not have the power to control the overseas activities of its subsidiary TotalEnergies EP Uganda. The non-governmental organisations behind the suit seek an emergency suspension of TotalEnergies' east Africa projects until financial compensation has been paid to those they say have been harmed as a result of those plans. In a statement to Reuters on Monday, TotalEnergies said its vigilance plan had been implemented effectively in the projects under scrutiny. Reporting by America Hernandez, Editing by Silvia Aloisi and Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"BNP Paribas continues to write new blank cheques to the largest fossil fuel companies without setting any conditions for an oil-free, gas-free ecological transition," said Alexandre Poidatz, advocacy officer at Oxfam France. In a statement sent to Reuters, BNP said it regretted the advocacy groups chose litigation over dialogue and that it could not stop all fossil-fuel financing right away. "We're convinced that the ecological transition is the only viable path for the future of our economies," it said. "We are focused on our fossil-fuel exit path, accelerating financing for renewable energies and supporting our customers, without whom the transition cannot be made." No court in France has yet forced a firm to change its ways on the basis of this law.

☆ Cost of EDF's new UK nuclear project rises to $40 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( America Hernandez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Feb 20 (Reuters) - EDF's (EDF.PA) new nuclear plant in southwest England is likely to cost about 2% more than its last budget estimate as inflation propels the price tag to almost 33 billion pounds ($40 billion), EDF documents show. EDF warned in a results presentation on Friday the cost of the Hinkley Point C project, Britain's first new nuclear plant in more than two decades, "could reach 32.7 billion pounds" based on inflation indexes as of June 30, 2022. Its previously published cost estimate in May 2022 was 31-32 billion euros when adjusted for inflation. The company last week reported a record net loss of 17.9 billion euros ($19.1 billion). The project is already a decade overdue, with EDF initially saying it would be powering British homes in 2017.

☆ TotalEnergies CEO: it's getting harder to get dividends from Russia's Yamal project
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Companies TotalEnergies SE FollowPARIS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - French oil major TotalEnergies received some dividends for its stake in Russia's Yamal LNG project in 2022 but it is becoming more complex to receive such payouts because of Western sanctions against Russia, CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on Wednesday. Pouyanne said TotalEnergies was only booking cashflow from the Yamal venture in its accounts "when we see the dividends in our pockets." The company also gets more income out of its Yamal venture, in which it has a 20% stake, when LNG volumes received under TotalEnergies' long-term contract are sold into Europe and Asia. "This is not Russian money, this is a European contract" Pouyanne said. Reporting by America Hernandez, Benjamin Mallet, writing by Silvia AloisiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ TotalEnergies has not signed contract on new Adani hydrogen venture - CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) has not yet signed a contract announced last year to extend its partnership with India's Adani to the production of green hydrogen, the chief executive of the French oil major said on Wednesday. Pouyanne said TotalEnergies was "not in charge" of the financial health of Adani group, with whom it has a number of joint-ventures. He said the stakes held by TotalEnergies in Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS) and Adani Green Energy (ADNA.NS) were still worth more than when the French company purchased them. "Adani Green is still worth twice as much as we invested, Adani Gas is still worth eight times more. He added that Adani had not requested financial support from TotalEnergies for existing projects.

☆ Russia sanctions are creating a "grey" oil market, says TotalEnergies CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( America Hernandez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Western sanctions against Russia are creating a parallel oil market, the chief executive of French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) said on Wednesday. "We had a relatively transparent, well-functioning global oil market .. "There is no longer a unified oil market ... With all these bans, we are creating a grey market for oil," he said adding that Russia was "without a doubt capable of selling its products elsewhere. Unlike rivals such as BP (BP.L) and Shell (SHEL.L), TotalEnergies has kept some of its investments in Russia, including the Yamal venture producing liquefied natural gas in Russia's Arctic. Capital employed by the group in Russia stood at $2.87 billion at the end of 2022, TotalEnergies said.

☆ TotalEnergies net profits double to record $36.2 bln in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) posted a record net profit of $36.2 billion in 2022, double the previous year, joining in the sector's bumper earnings thanks to higher oil and gas prices since Russia invaded Ukraine. TotalEnergies' fourth-quarter adjusted net income was $7.6 billion, including a $4.1 billion impairment related to the deconsolidation of its stake in Russian gas firm Novatek (NVTK.MM). The net income for the last three months of the year was in line with analyst estimates in a consensus by Refinitiv and compared with $6.8 billion a year earlier, and $9.9 billion in the third quarter of 2022. The company said it expected net investments of $16-18 billion in 2023, including $5 billion for low-carbon energy. Reporting by America Hernandez and Benjamin Mallet, editing by Silvia Aloisi and Richard LoughOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ France seeks strategy as nuclear waste site risks saturation point
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Benjamin Mallet | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] Used nuclear fuel is seen in a storage pool at the Orano nuclear waste reprocessing plant in La Hague, near Cherbourg, France, January 17, 2023. "We can't have a responsible nuclear policy without taking into account the handling of used fuel and waste. La Hague is the country's sole site able to process and partially recycle used nuclear fuel. Meanwhile, France's national agency for managing nuclear waste last month requested approval for a project to store permanently high-level radioactive waste. The facility at La Hague, with its 1980s-era buildings and Star Wars-style control rooms, has its limitations.

[1/6] French energy workers on strike gather with dockers near tyres set on fire as they protest against French government's pension reform plan, in the port of Saint-Nazaire, France, January 26, 2023. An Elabe poll for BFM showed 72% of the French are against the pension reform. "Oil workers are against this (pension) reform but they don't want to be on the front line," said a CGT union representative for Exxonmobil. A spokesperson for Esso, whose two French refinery sites are run by ExxonMobil (XOM.N), said only truck loading operations were suspended at Fos, with everything else operating normally. A union representative added that production at the Port Jerome site was slightly impacted.

DUBAI/LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Qatar is in talks to acquire a stake from French company TotalEnergies' (TTEF.PA) $27 billion cluster of energy projects in Iraq, three sources told Reuters, as Baghdad hopes to stem efforts by Western energy companies to exit the country. The TotalEnergies deal with Iraq, which will require an initial investment of $10 billion, followed a visit from French President Emmanuel Macron in September 2021. Sources told Reuters last year that disputes over terms had risked scrapping the project. A senior Iraqi oil ministry official said he was not aware of QatarEnergy plans to acquire a stake in the TotalEnergies' project. One of the sources told Reuters Sudani would also meet TotalEnergies Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne in a bid to end the deadlock.

☆ Protesters target BNP in Paris over loan to oil company
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Sarah MeyssonnierPARIS, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Protesters from ecological movement Extinction Rebellion rallied outside a BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) building in Paris on Friday to oppose the French bank's loan to an oil major leading in an East African oil pipeline project. EACOP is the acronym for the $3.5 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline, a project run by France's TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) whose construction licence was approved by Ugandan authorities on Thursday. BNP Paribas decided not to finance the EACOP project in 2021, but last year participated in a one-year liquidity loan of $8 billion to TotalEnergies as one of a dozen banks. One protester, referring to the loan, said "this blank check allows TotalEnergies to finance absolutely anything it wants, so yes BNP Paribas may not directly underwrite the project but it still remains the second-largest financial partner." The bank has a goal to finance 30 billion euros ($32.5 billion) of renewable energy projects by 2025.

☆ Strike reduces French power supply, halts refinery shipments
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

EDF's (EDF.PA) outage table showed a 4.5 GW nuclear supply reduction at eight reactors, 460 megawatts (MW) of reduced hydropower and 2.8 GW of lower thermal production. This is how strikes work in France : strikers are not allowed to put security of supply at risk," analyst Emeric de Vigan said. Meanwhile, deliveries of refined oil products were blocked from leaving refineries operated by TotalEnergies , the company said. There would be no disruption to fuel supplies at service stations if the unions maintained their strike timetable, TotalEnergies has said. The CGT refineries federation has called for a single day of strike this week and further walkouts next week and the week after.

☆ French nuclear waste agency applies for new storage site
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Jan 17 (Reuters) - France's national agency for managing nuclear waste has applied to the ministry of ecological transition for the creation of a project for the long-term storage of high-level radioactive waste, the agency said on Tuesday. Construction could begin as soon as 2027 if the French nuclear safety authority approves the application. Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands are also examining the construction of long-term high-level radioactive waste storage sites. Andra, the nuclear waste treatment agency, said this latest application for the storage site did not include the six new EPR nuclear reactors currently under consideration for construction by French power giant EDF (EDF.PA), citing the lack of a final decision to embark on the new build. Pierre-Marie Abadie, director general for Andra, said that the agency has in the past published a report saying waste from six new nuclear reactors could be encompassed in the future storage project "without difficulty."

☆ French court dismisses complicity in war crimes charge against TotalEnergies - lawyers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Jan 16 (Reuters) - A French court has dismissed charges of complicity in war crimes against oil major TotalEnergies, lawyers for the NGOs who brought the charge said in a statement. Lawyers for the groups said they had been informed that the public prosecutor had dismissed the complaint. TotalEnergies did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the ruling. It had denied the accusations in October in a statement to French daily Le Monde. Reporting by Silvia Aloisi and America Hernandez, writing by GV De Clercq; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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