French Energy Giant, To Stop Buying Russian Oil

French energy giant TotalEnergies said it has decided to halt all its purchases of Russian oil and petroleum products by the end of 2022 at the latest. The French company said in a statement it will "gradually suspend its activities in Russia" amid the "worsening situation" in Ukraine.

Russia represented 17% of the company's oil and gas production in 2020. TotalEnergies holds a 19.4% stake in Russia's natural gas producer Novatek. It also has a 20% stake in the Yamal LNG project in northern Russia. The group said it continues to supply Europe with liquefied natural gas from the Yamal LNG plant "as long as Europe's governments consider that Russian gas is necessary."

"Contrary to oil, it is apparent that Europe's gas logistics capacities make it difficult to refrain from importing Russian gas in the next two to three years without impacting the continent's energy supply," the statement said. TotalEnergies has also decided to put on hold its business developments for batteries and lubricants in Russia. It will provide no further capital for the development of projects in Russia, the statement said.

(PTI)