TotalEnergies has “little future” in the UK, boss warns

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TotalEnergies has “little future” in the UK, boss warns

TotalEnergies (PAR: TTE) will continue to move away from the UK North Sea as it looks to curtail exploration in the basin. Speaking as part of an investor call during the presentation of the French oil major’s fourth-quarter results, CEO Patrick Pouyanné said he sees “little future, to be honest” in the UK. The company’s […]

TotalEnergies (PAR: TTE) will continue to move away from the UK North Sea as it looks to curtail exploration in the basin.

Speaking as part of an investor call during the presentation of the French oil major’s fourth-quarter results, CEO Patrick Pouyanné said he sees “little future, to be honest” in the UK.

The company’s fourth-quarter results continue a trend from the third quarter in being largely silent on its plans for the UK.

Speaking at the event, Pouyanné said that the company has no plans to make further exploration in the UK.

“We have explored many discoveries and today we have a debate about who has the right to develop. It’s not possible to put some exploration money when you can’t get the developer licence,” he said.

“I prefer to explore in countries where I’m convinced that we’ll get the development.”

He added that TotalEnergies will continue its strategy of divesting its assets, though he did not specify if this would include any in the UK.

TotalEnergies had previously agreed a deal to sell its oil and gas fields West of Shetland as well as the Shetland Gas Plant to Prax Group.

The sale includes the Greater Laggan area, Laggan, Tormore, Glenlivet, Edradour and Glendronach.

However, the company’s fourth-quarter results made no mention of when it expects it to close.

The company’s upstream portfolio in the North Sea still includes the Elgin-Franklin, Culzean and Alwyn fields and offshore wind plays including the Seagreen project off the Angus coast.

The group has also shutdown its Gryphon floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel as ahead of a planned decommissioning this year.

TotalEnergies has gone from one of the North Sea’s biggest tax payers into significant retreat from the region.

Figures for 2023 showed that TotalEnergies paid the largest windfall tax, coming in at £821 million, more than second placed BP at £621m.

Pouyanné has previously been critical of UK fiscal policy, warning that the country’s tax regime will prompt TotalEnergies to reduce capital expenditure and restructure operations in the country.

“In the UK, we have worked in different ways to try to find a way to combine fiscal losses with our tax bill,” Pouyanné said.

“We are continuing to work on this one and if there are opportunities to save $1 billion of taxation, we’ll do it.”

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