TotalEnergies faces legal action over Russian ties

TotalEnergies faces potential legal action from the French wings of pressure groups Greenpeace France and Friends of the Earth over the company's Russian operations, the NGOs said on March 10.

In a "formal notice to cease" its Russian activities, the pressure groups argued TotalEnergies had infringed French human rights law by continuing to operate in the country. France's Duty of Vigilance law, enacted in 2017, requires big companies to publish an annual "vigilance plan" as part of due diligence on countries impacted by human rights abuses.

The pressure groups allege management could face criminal charges under the vigilance law for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity. The formal notice said "TotalEnergies no longer has a choice".

TotalEnergies said March 1 it will no longer provide capital for new Russian projects, but it has not mentioned any plans to divest its existing assets. That leaves it more exposed than fellow international oil companies BP, ExxonMobil, Eni, Equinor and Shell, which all expect to make a complete withdrawal.

TotalEnergies' shareholdings include a 19.4% stake in Russian gas producer Novatek. It also has minority shares in Novatek's operational 17mn metric ton/year Yamal LNG plant, and its upcoming 20mn mt/yr Arctic LNG-2 facility, due online in 2023.

Arctic LNG-2 appears to have suffered a blow to its financing, with Reuters reporting on March 1 that Italian export creditor Intesa Sanpaolo and state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestitti had frozen a $561mn loan for the project. This will increase the capital burden of the Arctic LNG-2 shareholders.