French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies said Friday it complete the sale of its stake in a Russian company producing jet fuel.
The comment followed the publication on Thursday of an article by the French newspaper Le Monde reporting that the “French oil and gas giant and its local partner Novatek manage a gas field whose product, once transformed into kerosene, is used to fuel Russian fighter planes engaged in the war in Ukraine. Terneftegaz, the company that runs the field, is 49% owned by TotalEnergies and 51% by Novatek.”
In response to the Le Monde report, TotalEnergies issued a statement Friday saying that while Terneftegaz produces jet fuel at its Purovsky plant in western Siberia, it does not have the certification to be sold inside Russia.
“The entirety of stable condensate produced at the Purovsky Plant from the feedstock coming from NOVATEK’s subsidiaries and affiliates, including Terneftegas, is delivered to the Ust-Luga processing complex in the Leningrad Region. The range of products derived during processing at the Ust-Luga Complex includes jet fuel (Jet A-1) that is exclusively exported outside Russia, and it does not even have the certification to be sold inside the country,” TotalEnergies said.
The company said the media reports and calls to investigate its activities and activities by its joint companies have “absolutely no basis in fact.”
The company then concluded that “no, TotalEnergies does not produce jet fuel for the Russian army.”
Following that statement, TotalEnergies also that it sold “its 49% interest in the Russian Termokarstovoye gas field to Novatek,” and that it “continues to implement its principles of conduct.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Friday called on TotalEnergies to pull out of Russia.
Kuleba said via Twitter that his country is “grateful to (French President) @EmmanuelMacron and the French people for supporting Ukraine,” but “against this background, it is a disgrace to France when French companies assist the murder of Ukrainians and the ruining of our cities. @TotalEnergies, pull out of Russia!”
Earlier this year, TotalEnergies also stated that it would stop buying Russian oil and oil products by the end of 2022 at the latest.
The company, however, said that it will continue to purchase natural gas from Russia.
“Unlike oil supply, it appears that Europe’s gas logistics capacities make it difficult to do without Russian gas in the next two to three years without affecting the continent’s energy supply,” TotalEnergies said in a statement.
The company said it will mobilize oil products from other places, especially diesel produced by the SATORP refinery in Saudi Arabia.
TotalEnergies’ contracts for Russian oil accounted for 12% of Russia’s diesel exports to the European Union in 2021, according to the statement.
The company reiterated that it doesn’t operate any oil or gas fields or liquified natural gas plants in Russia and is moving toward a gradual suspension of its activities in Russia, according to the statement.
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