Page 7 - EurOil Week 07 2022

EurOil PERFORMANCE EurOil

TotalEnergies profits soar in Q4 on

strong LNG, power performance

FRANCE CORE earnings (adjusted EBITDA) at French prices, while downstream profit doubled to
major TotalEnergies soared to a record $14.3bn $1.03bn for $502mn as higher feedstock costs
The major’s gas and in the final quarter of last year, up from $5.2bn were offset by rebounding fuel demand.
power businesses a year earlier, primarily on the back of strong “TotalEnergies’ multi-energy model demon-
performed particularly results from its LNG and electricity businesses. strated its ability to take full advantage of the very
well. The company’s integrated gas, renewables favourable environment, particularly in the LNG
and power division climbed more than tenfold and electricity sectors,” CEO Patrick Pouyanne
year on year to $2.76bn, from only $254mn. The said.
main driver was a surge in the company’s average TotalEnergies’ results were similar to those
LNG price to $13.12 per mmBtu, up from only of other European majors such as BP, Equinor
$4.90, as the global market became unprecedent- and Shell, all of which benefited from the spike
edly tight. LNG sales volumes also grew by 16% in energy demand particularly in Europe, where
at 11.6mn tonnes, on the back of rising exports at gas prices have spiked in recent months, as high
the Cameron LNG and Freeport LNG terminals levels of consumption have been matched with
in the US. supply constraints, particularly in Russia.
Power generation increased by 57% to And like its peers, TotalEnergies is also
6.7 TWh in the fourth quarter, supported by expanding its rewards to shareholders in light of
increased contributions from renewables and the stronger results. The company announced it
gas-fired power generation, supported by the would be paying a dividend of €0.66 ($0.75) per
acquisition of four combined-cycle gas turbine share for the final quarter of 2021, taking the full-
plants in France in the fourth quarter of 2020. year total to €2.64 per share. It intends to boost
Upstream operating earnings more than tri- interim dividends by 5% in 2022, and buy back
pled to $3.53bn, from $1.07bn, owing to higher $2bn of shares during the first half of the year. ™

POLICY

Saipem says it will appeal Algerian court’s

conviction on Arzew LNG fraud charges

ALGERIA ITALY’S Saipem said on February 15 that it file an appeal with the aim of securing the sus-
intended to appeal its conviction in an Algerian pension of the verdict and the fine. (Instead, the
The company has court on criminal charges of fraud related to the funds will be set aside in case they are needed
incurred a fine of award of a contract in 2008 for the construction later, Reuters noted.)
€192mn. of the Arzew LNG plant. The company went on to say that it had not
In a statement, Saipem acknowledged yet been notified of the reasoning underlying the
that the Tribunal of Algiers had reached a court’s decision. It also stressed that it had been
first-degree decision on the fraud case, which fully acquitted in the Italian court system of cor-
has been in process since 2019, on February ruption charges related to the GNL3 Arzew con-
14. It noted that the tribunal had convicted tract under a ruling issued in December 2020.
Saipem and two affiliated companies, Saipem The Algerian court ruling is coming just a few
Contracting Algérie and Snamprogetti SpA short weeks after Saipem’s announcement in late
Algeria Branch, of using fraudulent means January that it had sustained losses equivalent to
– that is, bribery – to obtain approval for its nearly one third of its total equity in 2021. That
overpriced bid on GNL3 Arzew, as the LNG news pulled the energy services contractor’s
plant contract was known. share and bond prices down significantly, and
Additionally, the Italian energy services the independent Italian investment bank Equita
contractor reported that it had incurred a fine said in a research note on February 15 that the
of around €192mn as a result of the guilty ver- GNL3 Arzew verdict made further losses likely.
dict. It said it intended to book those costs on its “We believe the conviction can expand the
accounts at the end of Fiscal Year 2021 but would [2021] net operating loss... to €2.3-2.4bn,” the
not pay the fine immediately, since it intended to note said. ™

Week 07 17•February•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P7