Location: Courbevoie, Île-de-France, France
Founder: Ernest Mercier
Founded: March 28th, 1924
Key People:
Patrick Pouyanné (Chairman & CEO)
Employees: 102,579
More About The Manufacturer:[]
The company was founded after World War I when then French President Raymond Poincaré rejected the idea of forming a partnership with Royal Dutch Shell in favour of creating an entirely French oil company. At Poincaré's behest, Col. Ernest Mercier with the support of ninety banks and companies founded Total on 28 March 1924, as the Compagnie française des pétroles (CFP), literally the "French Petroleum Company". Petroleum was seen as vital in the case of a new war with Germany.
As per the agreement reached during the San Remo conference of 1920, the French state received the 25% share held by Deutsche Bank in the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC) as part of the compensation for war damages caused by Germany during World War I. The French government's stake in TPC was transferred to CFP and the Red Line agreement in 1928 rearranged the shareholding of CFP in TPC (later renamed the Iraq Petroleum Company in 1929) to 23.75%. The company from the start was regarded as a private sector company in view of its listing on the Paris Stock Exchange in 1929.
The company during the 1930s was engaged in exploration and production, primarily from the Middle East. Its first refinery began operating in Normandy in 1933. After World War II, CFP engaged in oil exploration in Venezuela, Canada, and Africa while pursuing energy sources within France. Exploration in Algeria, then a French colony, began in 1946, with Algeria becoming a leading source of oil in the 1950s.
In 1954, CFP introduced its downstream product – Total brand of gasoline in the African continent and Europe.
1980, Total Petroleum (North America) Ltd., a company controlled 50% by CFP, bought the American refining and marketing assets of Vickers Petroleum as part of a sell-off by Esmark of its energy holdings. This purchase gave Total refining capacity, transportation, and a network of 350 service stations in 20 states.
The company renamed itself Total CFP in 1985, to build on the popularity of its gasoline brand. Later in 1991, the name was changed to Total, when it became a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The French government, who used to control more than 30 percent of the company's stock in 1991, reduced its stake in the firm to less than 1 percent by 1996. In the time period between 1990 and 1994, foreign ownership of the firm increased from 23 percent to 44 percent.
Meanwhile, Total continued to expand its retail presence in North America under several brand names. In 1989, Denver, Colorado, based Total Petroleum, Total CFP's North American unit, purchased 125 Road Runner retail locations from Texarkana, Texas-based Truman Arnold Companies. By 1993, Total Petroleum was operating 2,600 retail stores under the Vickers, Apco, Road Runner, and Total brands. That year, the company began remodeling and rebranding all of its North American gasoline and convenience stores to use the Total name. Only four years later, Total sold its North American refining and retail operations to Ultramar Diamond Shamrock for $400 million in stock and $414 million in assumed debt.
After Total's takeover of Petrofina of Belgium in 1999, it became known as Total Fina. Afterwards it also acquired Elf Aquitaine. First named TotalFinaElf after the merger in 2000, it was later renamed back to Total on May 6th, 2003. During that rebranding, the current globe logo was unveiled.
In May 2006, Saudi Aramco and TOTAL signed a MOU to develop the Jubail Refinery and Petrochemical project in Saudi Arabia which targeted 400,000 barrels per day (bpd). On 21 September 2008, the two companies officially established a joint venture called SAUDI ARAMCO TOTAL Refining and Petrochemical Company (SATORP)- in which a 62.5% stake was held by Saudi Aramco and the balance 37.5% held by TOTAL.
In 2010 Total and Erg merged their respective subsidiaries Total Italia and Erg Petroli, forming TotalErg, 49% controlled by the French group and 51% by the Italian one.
As of 2010, Total had over 96,000 employees and operated in more than 130 countries. In 2010, Total announced plans to pull out of the forecourt market in the United Kingdom.
In 2013, Total started the operation at Kashagan with North Caspian Operating Company. It is the biggest discovery of oil reserves since 1968. In 2013, Total increased its stake in Novatek to 16.96%. In September 2013, Total and its joint venture partner agreed to buy Chevron Corporation’s retail distribution business in Pakistan for an undisclosed amount.
In January 2014, Total became the first major oil and gas firm to acquire exploration rights for shale gas in the UK after it bought a 40 percent interest in two licenses in the Gainsborough Trough area of northern England for $48 million. In July 2014, the company disclosed it was in exclusive talks to sell its LPG distribution business in France to Pennsylvania-based UGI Corporation for €450 million ($615 million).
In 2015, Total unveiled plans to cut 180 jobs in the United Kingdom, reduce refinery capacity and slow spending on North Sea fields after it fell to a $5.7bn final-quarter loss. The company said it would also sell off $5bn worth of assets worldwide and cut exploration costs by 30%.
In 2016, Total signed a $224M deal to buy Lampiris, the third-largest Belgian supplier of gas and renewable energy to expand its gas and power distribution activities.
In 2016 Total agreed to acquire $2.2-billion in upstream and downstream assets from Petrobras as part of the firms’ strategic alliance announced in October 2016. For Total, these new partnerships with Petrobras reinforce Total's position in Brazil through access to new fields in the Santos Basin while entering the gas value chain.
In July 2017, Total signed a deal for a total amount of $4.8b with Iran for the development and production of South Pars, the world's largest gas field. The deal was the first foreign investment in Iran since in July 2015 sanctions over Iran's nuclear weaponization were lifted by the JCPOA.
On 10 January 2018 TotalErg was acquired by Gruppo API, with the exception of the Special Fluids division, acquired by the newly formed Total Italia.
In 2018, Total officially withdrew from the Iranian South Pars gas field because of sanctions pressure from the US.
In August 2019, Total signed deals to transfer 30% and 28.33% of its assets in Namibia’s Block 2913B and Block 2912 respectively to Qatar Petroleum. The company will also transfer 40% of its existing 25% interests in the Orinduik and Kanuku blocks of Guyana and 25% interest in Blocks L11A, L11B and L12 of Kenya to Qatar Petroleum.
In July 2020 the company changed its name from Total SA to Total SE as part of registration as a European company.
In 2020, the company announced its intention to cut 500 voluntary jobs in France.
In 2021, Total left the American Petroleum Institute lobby, due to differences in the common vision of how to tackle the fight against climate change.
In 2021, Total said that it had registered an income of $3 billion for the period of January–March, which is close to the levels registered before the pandemic.
In 2021, the company announced a name change to TotalEnergies as an intended illustration of its investments in the production of green electricity. At the Ordinary and Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting in May of that year, shareholders approved the name change to TotalEnergies.
In 2022, TotalEnergies announced it would end all operations in Myanmar, citing rampant human rights abuses and deteriorating rule of law since the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état and has also called for international sanctions targeting the oil and gas sector in the country, which is one of the main sources of revenue for Myanmar's government.
As of 11 March 2022, Total was one of the only Western oil companies to continue operating in Russia after the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.
In June 2022, TotalEnergies signed a partnership with QatarEnergy for the worlds largest LNG expansion project, the North Field East (NFE). Holding the largest stake, 6.25%, TotalEnergies will hold the equivalent of one of the four trains. In September 2022, an additional agreement was signed to include the North Field South (NFS) which is the second phase of the NFE. This gave TotalEnergies a stake of 9.375% of the 25% stakes available to international companies.
On 30 March 2023, Total sold a shipment of LNG which it sourced from UAE to CNOOC on the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange. It was reportedly the first trade to be settled in the renminbi (Chinese yuan) currency on the SHPGX.
In July 2023, Iraq signed a $27 billion energy agreement with TotalEnergies to develop the country’s energy sector and boost output of oil, gas and renewables. Additionally, Indian Oil Corp, has signed liquefied natural gas (LNG) import deals with ADNOC LNG and TotalEnergies in the same month.
In October 2023, TotalEnergies sold its Canadian operations to Suncor Energy for C$1.47 billion($1.07 billion). TotalEnergies has agreed to buy liquefied natural gas from Qatar for 27 years, cementing the European nation’s commitment to fossil fuels beyond 2050.
In 2023, Total invested $300 million in a renewable energy joint venture with Adani Green Energy. The joint venture's portfolio capacity is 1,050 MW - 300 MW of operating capacity, 500 MW of solar projects under construction and 250 MW of projects under development, as well as solar and wind power projects in India. At the end of January 2024, TotalEnergies reached an agreement with OMV to purchase a 50% stake in its joint venture in Malaysia (SapuraOMV) for $903 million. The deal includes the repayment of a $350 million loan from OMV to the joint venture.
On 21 February 2024, TotalEnergies and Airbus entered a strategic partnership to meet emission-reduction goals through the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). TotalEnergies will provide more than 50% of Airbus’ European fuel requirements. Compared to fossil fuels, SAF can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 90%.
TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy entered an agreement on 6 March 2024 to purchase participating interests in South Africa’s Orange Basin offshore oil field. Under the agreement, TotalEnergies will have the exclusive right to operate its wells in Block 3B/4B with a 33% interest holding, while QatarEnergy will receive a 24% interest in the same block.
In 22 April 2024, OmanLNG and TotalEnergies signed a deal in which OmanLNG will provide 800,000 metric tons of liquified natural gas.
Total has provided fuel and lubricants to professional auto racing teams,
Total has been a longtime partner of Citroën Sport in the World Rally Championship, Dakar Rally and World Touring Car Championship. Sébastien Loeb won nine WRC drivers titles, whereas Ari Vatanen and Pierre Lartigue won four editions of the Dakar Rally.
Total has been a partner of Peugeot Sport in Formula One from 1995 to 2000, the British Touring Car Championship in 1995 and 1996 and since 2001 in the World Rally Championship, Intercontinental Rally Challenge, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, Dakar Rally and Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Total is also a partner of Peugeot Sport for its customer racing TCR Touring Car programme and its Le Mans Hypercar project in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Total was a partner of Renault Sport in Formula One from 2009 to 2016. Their logo appeared on the Red Bull Racing cars between 2009 and 2016, the Renault F1 cars in 2009, 2010 and 2016, and the Lotus F1 cars from 2011 to 2014. Total also partnered Caterham F1 Team in 2011–2014, Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2014–2015 and Williams F1 Team in 2012–2013.
Also, Total was the title sponsor of the Copa Sudamericana football tournament in 2013 and 2014.
In 2017, Total was appointed by FIA and ACO as official fuel supplier of the World Endurance Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans from 2018–19 season onwards.
Total is one of the official sponsors from 2013 to 2022 for one of the most popular and influential Mexican football teams, Club America.
In terms of educational development, Total provides scholarships worth millions of euros annually to international students to study in France. These programs are mainly for master's degrees. Doctoral scholarships are also offered but in limited numbers. The students mainly come from Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East where Total Operates. Students from Africa are mainly from Nigeria. The scholarship involves the payment of Tuition and a monthly allowance of 1400 Euros (2014 disbursement). The allowance is able to cater for feeding, transportation, and accommodation for the students. The drop in oil prices in 2015 has led to the reduction of the number of scholars.
In 2016, Total secured an eight-year sponsorship package from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to support 10 of its principal competitions. Total will start with the Africa Cup of Nations to be held in Gabon, therefore, renaming it Total Africa Cup of Nations.
Following Total's purchase of Direct Énergie in the summer of 2018, the Direct Énergie cycling team changed its name the following year to Total Direct Énergie ahead of that year's edition of Paris–Roubaix. In 2021 the team changed its name again to Team TotalEnergies in time for that year's Tour de France.
In 2019, the company's Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Pouyanne pledged that Total would make a €100 million contribution to the reconstruction of the Notre-Dame cathedral after it was extensively damaged in a fire.
In 2020, the company confirmed a two-year sponsorship deal with CR Flamengo, being the first time a partner of a Brazilian football team.