© Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg
– The Yamal LNG plant, Russia, in 2018.
Barely more than a day. Arriving on September 25 at the port of Montoir-de-Bretagne in Saint-Nazaire (44), the LNG ship “Fedor Litke” did not stay at the dock for long to unload its precious cargo. In the holds of this 299 meter long ship? Liquefied natural gas (LNG). So far nothing to complain about, except that this gas transformed into liquid form to be easily transported by sea comes straight from Siberia! Like the “Fedor Litke”, around fifteen LNG carriers regularly cross the Arctic and the North Sea from Russia, to dock at the ports of France but also of Belgium or from Spain.
Perhaps you thought that the economic sanctions, which have affected Putin's Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, would prevent all trade with Europe, starting with hydrocarbons of which Moscow is one of the main world exporters? This is true for petroleum products, much less so for gas. A curious paradox, as the 27 of the European Union have supported kyiv since the start of the war.
Risk of price spikes and supply issues
Besides, this is not the only oddity in the region. Look to the southwest of Russia, Azerbaijan, which is hosting the new world climate conference (COP 29) this November. To be less tied to Moscow, many European countries have recently increased their purchases of Azeri oil and gas, despite the recurring violence committed in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which led last year to its annexation to the detriment of the 'Armenia.
Let's return to Russia. Too dependent on its natural gas, abundant and cheap, the Europeans have not been able to completely put an end to it, at the risk of an immediate surge in already tense prices. Because it is not easy to find alternatives elsewhere in the world, as demand is high from other major gas producers such as Norway or AlgeriaFor example. Purchases from UNITED STATES were increased in LNG, but this was not enough. As a result, we had to put a tissue to our good feelings and continue to buy gas Russian, still reducing its share from 40 to 8% between 2021 and 2023.
TotalEnergies imports Siberian LNG
But between the blackmail of the supplier Gazprom and the supplies made uncertain after the sabotage in September 2022 of the Nord Stream, the main gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany, it was necessary to opt for safer deliveries of LNG by boat. The problem is that they don't decrease over time. In the first half of 2024, imports into Europe even reached 11.84 billion cubic meters. Up 11% compared to the same period in 2023. And there's nothing to brag about: France comes first, with 4.38 billion cubic metersmore than double the previous year, according to estimates from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
How to explain such specificity? To understand, a historical return is necessary. From the 1990s, the end of the Cold War offered France the opportunity to diversify its sources of energy supply, by turning to the former USSR, which had plenty of them. In this little game, the group Total (which became TotalEnergies in 2021) is at the forefront: participation in the Russian natural gas company Novatek (2011), investments in Siberia in liquefied gas production sites of Yamal LNG (2013) et Arctic GNL 2 (2019)… Never mind the very authoritarian drift of the regime and the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Which explains why our French champion still maintains an activity in Putin's country today.
TotalEnergies has participations in the consortiums operating the two Siberian LNG sites but also at Novatek.
“However, these shares are no longer worth anything. There are no more dividends coming to usassured the group's CEO, Patrick Pouyanné, during a hearing before a committee of inquiry in the Senate last spring. ”
Purchases that indirectly finance the Russian offensive?
The group, on the other hand, continues to finance the Yamal factory, as the group's public affairs director Jean-Claude Mallet clarified, also before the senators. The company is also required by its contract to purchase 5 billion cubic meters of Siberian LNG per year. until 2032. Despite everything, there is a risk of not finding a buyer. French gas consumption has in fact fallen by 11% in 2023 under the effects of sobriety and mild winter weather. The French major could therefore have chosen to reduce its imports, even if it meant paying at a loss. “Total is perhaps saying that it is more interesting to buy some at the moment because it is cheaper, or it wants to store more to ensure its security of supply in case demand restarts,” says Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz, energy analyst at IEEFA.
If the French giant is so keen on these sulfurous purchases, it is also because it is positioned across the entire value chain: from upstream production to downstream trading, including transport and regasification. Which allows it to rank world number 3 in LNG with 11% market share. Note that unlike what happens in the port of Dunkirk, all the gas unloaded at Montoir-de-Bretagne is not intended for domestic use. Of the 2.19 billion cubic meters of Russian LNG delivered in the first half of 2024, 32% were directly transhipped and resold outside France, to other European countries but also to the Middle East, South America and especially Asia. And too bad if it's morally questionable.
Transshipments outside Europe banned in March 2025
The Ukrainian organization Razom We Stand thus accuses TotalEnergies of indirectly finance the Russian offensive. Because the Kremlin levies a tax on LNG revenues. Yamal reported to him 3.74 billion euros in tax revenue in 2023according to the Belgian organization Bond Beter Leefmilieu. To which must be added a tax on transbordements amounting to 679 million euros the same year, including 173 million taken in France. Razom We Stand also filed closed complaints against the French giant.
However, the NGOs ended up being heard in part by Europe: the transshipment of Russian LNG in European Union ports will be banned at the end of March 2025. TotalEnergies must comply with it. For the rest, he intends to maintain his exchanges “as long as sanctions allow”specified TotalEnergies' General Director Exploration-Production Nicolas Terraz last March. The Ukrainians will have to wait a little longer…
