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TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanné has said he is “ready” to help sell more US liquefied natural gas to Europe, but urged the EU to seek a long-term LNG deal to guarantee energy security.
Pouyanné said an agreement that secured a more favourable licensing regime for European companies would satisfy Trump’s desire for the bloc to buy more US oil and gas, while protecting Europe from future price increases.
The chief executive, whose company is the biggest exporter of energy from the US, said this would guarantee security of supply from the US and help wean Europe off Russian gas.
Currently, export licences to Europe must be regularly renegotiated while countries that have trade agreements with the US have longer-lasting and automatic approvals.
Pouyanné said Europe should also seek “a form of guarantee” to ensure US LNG supply could not be disrupted. He was also concerned that without such guarantees, higher gas prices could lead to the US limiting exports of its LNG.
“Trump wants to sell more energy to Europe, LNG in particular,” Pouyanné said. “Total is one of the main players. I’m ready to bring more energy to Europe.”
The executive’s comments come as Trump has called on Europe to buy more oil and gas from the US to avoid tariffs, and as business leaders and governments contend with his protectionist trade agenda.
Frank Harris, an LNG expert at consultancy Wood Mackenzie, said Pouyanné’s comments demonstrated “the fundamental attractiveness of US LNG to a portfolio player like Total”.
Total’s boss was speaking after the release of 2024 results that showed the company’s net income had fallen more than a fifth in 2024 due to lower crude prices. The company downgraded its 2025 organic investment target slightly to $17bn, from $18bn.
Pouyanné, whose company is involved in several US LNG projects including a 15mn tonnes a year project in Louisiana and an initial 17.5 million tonnes a year project in South Texas, said Total would not rush into more US projects despite Trump’s election.
The US president has promised to roll back environmental rules, open up vast swaths of federal land and waters for development, and reform permitting rules to facilitate the production of fossil fuels.
“The US is attractive, and we will continue to invest . . . but our plate is already quite full,” he said. “I will not do more just because it’s easier to do.”
Pouyanné was scathing about onerous environment, social and governance rules in Europe, which he said hurt the bloc’s competitiveness.
He described the EU’s corporate sustainability reporting directive, which threatens companies with fines for not ensuring their supply chains do not harm workers or the environment, as a “monster” formed from “good intentions”.
In Europe, Total has faced criticism over its long-term plan of continuing to invest in fossil fuels, including LNG. It is seeking a continuous listing of its shares in New York, where institutional investors are less preoccupied with environmental factors.
But the company is not abandoning its ambitions for electricity production, combining renewables and natural gas. It is also seeking to boost net electricity production to 100 TWh in 2030, from 40 TWh last year.
Total would not change strategy “based on one US administration” even as Trump’s hostility to offshore wind has caused it to halt a planned wind farm off the coast of New York and New Jersey, Pouyanné said.
The company “might stop” a small e-methane project in the US, if “fiscal incentives” granted under Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act are not protected, he added.
Analysts have said that other low-carbon projects, such as ExxonMobil’s proposal for a huge hydrogen facility at Baytown, Texas, could be abandoned if IRA tax credits are repealed by Congress.
