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☆ Pre-Olympics swimming event at risk as storms dirty Seine river
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( America Hernandez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Paris 2024 Olympics - Training for test swimming event for Paris 2024 - River Seine, Paris, France - August 4, 2023 A tourist boat is pictured on the River Seine beside the Pont Alexandre III bridge REUTERS/Stephanie LecocqPARIS, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Participants of this weekend's Open Water Swimming World Cup were barred from a Friday morning training session in Paris' river Seine as heavy rainfall caused water quality to dip below health standards, the French Swimming Federation (FFN) said. The women's 10 kilometre race on Saturday - a qualifying event for marathon swimming at the Paris 2024 Olympics - is still scheduled to go ahead, pending a new river water quality test on Friday evening. "The water quality tests are done regularly, and they are progressively improving," the spokesperson added. International federation World Aquatics did not immediately respond to a request for comment about further backup plans for the races if Seine water quality does not improve this weekend. The city has been working on clean-up efforts to make the Seine swimmable again, as it was during the 1900 Paris Olympics more than a century ago.

Persons: Pont Alexandre III, Stephanie Lecocq PARIS, Jacques Chirac, America Hernandez, Geert De Clercq Organizations: Paris, French Swimming Federation, Olympics, Thomson Locations: Seine, Paris, France, Villette, Egypt, Italy

SummaryCompanies Q2 profits slump 56% at Shell, 49% at TotalEnergies y/yOil, gas, LNG prices much lower in 2023 vs 2022TotalEnergies sees LNG prices recover somewhat in winterShell slows pace of share buyback programmeLONDON/PARIS, July 27 (Reuters) - Shell (SHEL.L) and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) reported sharp falls in second-quarter profit from bumper 2022 earnings as oil and gas prices, refining margins and trading results all weakened. Oil and gas prices soared last year in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine but energy prices have dropped sharply this year as fears of shortages eased amid global economic challenges. Reuters GraphicsShell's shares were down 1.9% at 0755 GMT and TotalEnergies' slipped 0.4%, compared with a 1% decline in the European index of oil and gas companies (.SXEP). Prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG), a key product for both groups, dropped to $11.75 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) from around $33. Both Shell and TotalEnergies had flagged shrinking profit from refining crude oil into fuel and chemicals in the quarter.

Persons: TotalEnergies, Shell, Wael Sawan, Patrick Pouyanne, Ron Bousso, Shadia, America Hernandez, Susan Fenton Organizations: Shell, Reuters Graphics, Brent, Thomson Locations: PARIS, Ukraine, TotalEnergies

☆ TotalEnergies Q2 net income falls as LNG, refining profits slump
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies TotalEnergies SE FollowPARIS, July 27 (Reuters) - French oil company TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) posted a drop in second-quarter net income on Thursday, reflecting lower natural gas prices and slimmer refining margins in Europe as energy markets calm. Adjusted net income fell to $5 billion compared with $6.5 billion in the first quarter, and $9.8 billion during the same period last year. Analysts had expected $5.2 billion in net income, according to a consensus established by Eikon Refinitiv. Total confirmed some $2 billion in share buybacks for the third quarter as expected. The company said European refining was impacted by higher Chinese exports and a quicker-than-expected reorganisation of Russian exports following an embargo on oil and oil products imposed by the European Union.

Persons: Eikon Refinitiv, America Hernandez, Silvia Aloisi, Jon Boyle Organizations: Analysts, European Union, Thomson Locations: PARIS, Europe, Ukraine

☆ TotalEnergies faces second lawsuit over Uganda oil projects
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( America Hernandez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies TotalEnergies SE FollowPARIS, June 27 (Reuters) - Five activist groups have sued French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) for a second time over its projects in Uganda and Tanzania in a Paris civil court, they said on Tuesday, after an earlier fast-track attempt was dismissed in February. Their lawsuit makes use of a 2017 French "duty of vigilance" law requiring large companies to identify risks in their global operations and supply chains, and detail strategies to prevent them. The first suit sought - and failed - to halt the projects by judicial order under a special fast-track process, with the judge finding that TotalEnergies' so-called vigilance plan was legally adequate. This latest legal attempt instead seeks reparations for those who claim they have already been harmed as a result of the project construction. Allegations run from lack of timely payment for land on which the pipeline will be built, to damaged houses from flooding during construction of oil processing facilities.

Persons: TotalEnergies, America Hernandez, Jan Harvey Organizations: Friends, Oil Pipeline, Thomson Locations: PARIS, Uganda, Tanzania, Paris, France, French, EACOP, Uganda’s Lake Albert, Tanga

Henriette Borgund knows attackers can find weaknesses in the defences of a big renewables power company - she's found them herself. She joined Norway's Hydro (NHY.OL) as an "ethical hacker" last April, bringing years of experience in military cyberdefence to bear at a time of war in Europe and chaos in energy markets. They're nervously monitoring a hybrid war where physical energy infrastructure has already been targeted, from the Nord Stream gas pipelines to the Kakhovka dam. It said Russia had tried to destroy digital networks and cause power cuts, and that missile attacks on facilities were often accompanied by cyberattacks. "Companies in the energy space, their core business is producing energy, not cybersecurity," said Jalal Bouhdada, CEO of cybersecurity firm Applied Risk, a division of DNV.

Persons: Nora Buli, Henriette Borgund, she's, shoring, Michael Ebner, cyberattacks, didn't, Swantje Westpfahl, James Forrest, Cem Gocgoren, Stephan Gerling, Mathias Boeswetter, Leonhard Birnbaum, Jalal Bouhdada, Nina Chestney, Christoph Steitz, America Hernandez, Paris Pavel Polityuk, Guy Faulconbridge, Pravin Organizations: REUTERS, Norway's Hydro, Reuters, Hydro's Oslo, Hydro, Ukraine, cyberattacks, Germany's Institute for Security, TRITON, Triton, Svenska, ICS CERT, University of Tulsa, E.ON, " Companies, Pravin Char, Thomson Locations: Norwegian, Fosen, Norway, Ukraine, OSLO, LONDON, FRANKFURT, Europe, Nord, Russia, Ukrainian, Moscow, United States, Russian, Capgemini, Saudi, Swedish, DNV, Oslo, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Kiev

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.

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