TotalEnergies SE

TotalEnergies has agreed a 15 year digital drilling and engineering contract with SLB covering global upstream projects, while separately taking final investment decision on full field development of the Absheron gas and condensate field in Azerbaijan. The SLB agreement introduces integrated digital well planning tools intended to centralise data and support drilling decisions across TotalEnergies' portfolio. The Absheron project is designed around automation and lower emission infrastructure to support regional gas supply and energy transition goals, with a targeted 2029 start up and four subsea wells plus an onshore plant to be delivered. Investors are told to watch project updates between now and that start up, including capex guidance and disclosures on how widely the SLB DrillPlan system is used across the wider upstream portfolio. The article frames both moves as reinforcing TotalEnergies' existing push into gas and power and its focus on digitalisation, rather than as a rewrite of the investment narrative.

SLB N.V. has expanded its long-term digital subsurface collaboration with TotalEnergies SE by adding Chevron Technical Center, a division of Chevron U.S.A. Inc., as the second global operator in the initiative. The collaboration, known as Arena, was established by SLB and TotalEnergies in 2024, and Chevron will contribute investment, intellectual property and technical expertise while adding capabilities in uncertainty analysis, optimization and field development planning. Arena focuses on improving decisions across reservoir engineering and geoscience, with embedded experts from Chevron and TotalEnergies at SLB technology centers designed to shorten feedback cycles and bring operational requirements directly into product development. The three companies have already collaborated on the Intersect reservoir simulator, and Arena extends that relationship into a broader digital framework focused on open and extensible technologies. SLB and TotalEnergies currently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each, while Chevron Corporation and Equinor ASA each sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

UBS rates five of the eight European energy stocks it covers as "buy" in a Q3 earnings preview, saying oil, gas and refining margins have all trended above consensus and refining margins jumped 83% in a quarter. The broker's Q3 net income estimates are 12% above consensus on average, and it raised its Brent forecast to $100/bl for Q4 while making no rating changes. For BP, UBS lifted its price target to 700p from 675p against a 558p share price, forecasting Q3 adjusted net income of $5.70 billion, 6% above consensus, and cash flow ex-working capital of $10.87 billion, 10% above, with net debt down $4.5 billion; BP reports on 30 October. TotalEnergies saw its target rise to €89 from €88 against a €74.5 share price, with UBS expecting Q3 adjusted net income of $8.63 billion, 16% above consensus, and cash flow ex-working capital of $12.36 billion, 25% above, the widest gap in the group, ahead of results on 29 October. Eni's target rose to €30 from €28 against a €24.2 share price, with Q3 net income of €2.42 billion essentially in line with consensus and 2026E EPS 26% above, plus assumed buybacks of €3.8 billion and a special dividend of about €1 billion; Eni reports on 23 October. Galp's €25 target was unchanged against a €21.7 share price, with Q3 net income forecast at €654 million, 22% above consensus, and cash flow of €956 million, 14% above, ahead of its 26 October report. OMV's target rose 13% to €77 from €68 against a €70.5 share price, with Q3 net income expected at €1.07 billion, 3% above consensus, and cash flow 5% above; OMV reports on 29 October.

Amid the turmoil caused by the war in Iran, momentum is growing in the energy industry to consider investment in alternative transport routes that bypass the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. Patrick Pouyanné, chief executive of France's TotalEnergies, reiterated plans to take part in a pipeline project running from Iraq to Syria and to invest in doubling the capacity of a pipeline network that carries crude oil to the UAE port of Fujairah while bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, saying the industry needs to shift its thinking from "just in time" to "just in case." BP chief executive Meg O'Neill noted that the redevelopment of the Kirkuk oil field, being pursued with US-based ConocoPhillips and Turkey's state-owned TPAO, has broadened the options for a new northern export route, but she took a cautious view on whether it is a project that should commit BP shareholders' money. Mike Wirth, chief executive of US-based Chevron, expressed optimism about progress in negotiations with the Iraqi government over entering the West Qurna 2 and Nasiriyah oil fields, while cautioning that most of the funding would need to be borne by other investors, adding that if the project goes ahead, the company would participate as a member of a consortium of multiple firms. Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah, chief executive of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, disclosed that it is in talks with Saudi Arabia and the UAE over new pipelines connecting to their respective ports, and argued that not only oil-producing countries but also importing countries should share the cost burden.

Halliburton and TotalEnergies have signed new agreements in Venezuela, deepening Western oil companies' push into the country's 303 billion barrels of crude reserves. Halliburton signed two memoranda of understanding with Brazil's Eneva and engineering firm WESCA to deploy digital technologies and subsurface interpretation tools for field evaluation and development planning in the Orinoco and Maracaibo basins. TotalEnergies' deal with PDVSA includes the Travi light crude field in Monagas state, reversing its 2021 withdrawal from the Petrocedeno joint venture. The moves follow a U.S. agreement signed on 2 September by Energy Secretary Chris Wright covering 65 billion barrels of proven reserves across 17 fields, a 100-year concession that President Donald Trump called "the biggest oil deal in world history." Chevron has raised Venezuelan output from 40,000 barrels per day to 250,000 bpd, with CFO Eimear Bonner projecting a 50% increase to 420,000 bpd by the end of 2028, while BP has opened a permanent Caracas office and secured a license for Phase 2 of the offshore Loran gas field.

Equinor ASA stands to benefit from elevated Brent crude prices as its expanding production base increases exposure to stronger crude realizations. Brent is trading above $100 per barrel amid Middle East supply disruptions and falling global inventories, with disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz restricting regional energy exports. Equinor's upstream portfolio is supported by production growth from assets including Johan Castberg, Eirin, Symra and Bacalhau, and its low breakeven after a dividend of about $50 per barrel supports strong cash generation even if Brent retreats. The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts Brent to average around $90 per barrel in the second half of 2026. Shell plc saw its second-quarter 2026 upstream adjusted earnings rise as its realized liquids price increased to $89 per barrel from $72 in the prior quarter, while TotalEnergies SE said an $8-per-barrel increase in Brent was enough to offset the expected 2026 cash-flow impact from affected assets in Iraq, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Equinor shares have gained 67.7% over the past year against the industry's 115.7% growth, and the stock trades at a trailing 12-month EV/EBITDA of 2.2X versus the industry average of 5.94X.

Northern Lights, the carbon capture and storage joint venture owned by Shell, Equinor and TotalEnergies, has signed a new customer agreement with Oresundskraft Kraft & Varme, owned by the City of Helsingborg. Under the deal, CO2 will be captured and liquefied at Oresundskraft's Filbornaverket waste-to-energy plant in Helsingborg, Sweden, trucked to the Port of Halland in Halmstad, then shipped to Northern Lights' receiving terminal in Oygarden, Norway, for permanent storage in a reservoir roughly 2,600 meters beneath the seabed. Northern Lights will provide transportation and storage for up to 200,000 metric tons of CO2 per year, with operations targeted to begin in the fourth quarter of 2029 subject to agreed conditions. Oresundskraft becomes Northern Lights' second Swedish customer after Stockholm Exergi, and the seventh industrial customer overall across four countries. Northern Lights, described as the first of its kind to enable cross-border CO2 transportation and storage, completed its first CO2 injection in 2025, marking the start of commercial storage activity.

TotalEnergies has approved Final Investment Decisions for the Absheron gas field in Azerbaijan and the Ima gas field in Nigeria. Both projects are planned with low emission designs and are expected to support regional energy security and local development. The company has also entered a new infrastructure partnership in Africa with Global Infrastructure Partners to support long term gas-related assets. The Absheron and Ima gas FIDs mark a major step, although TotalEnergies has several other moving parts investors should understand, with analysts flagging heavy capex and exposure to higher risk regions as potential pressure points. The group's presence across Europe, Africa and the United States gives these Azerbaijani and Nigerian projects a wide commercial and logistical context.

French oil major TotalEnergies announced on the 28th that it will increase its fourth-quarter share buyback to $2.5 billion from $1.5 billion in recent quarters. Higher crude prices stemming from the Iran war, a strong trading division, and widening refining margins helped second-quarter profit reach its highest level in about three years. The company said it will carry out $2 billion to $2.5 billion in buybacks in the first quarter of 2027, continue raising its dividend by more than 5% annually through 2030, and projected that production would grow 2% to 3% a year to about 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2030 to 2035. Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanné told an analyst briefing in New York that the company is in a position to expand annual shareholder returns to roughly $7.5 billion to $8 billion, and expressed confidence it can meet its targets without relying on large M&A. It plans net investment of $14 billion to $17 billion a year in 2027 to 2032, and expects to lower its gearing ratio to below 10% by the end of 2026. Among European majors, Britain's BP has halted buybacks this year, and Shell also reduced its quarterly buyback to $3 billion from $3.5 billion in May.

TotalEnergies SE raised its fourth-quarter share buyback program to $2.5 billion from $1.5 billion and said it plans to repurchase $2 billion to $2.5 billion of shares in the first quarter of 2027, while pledging to lift its dividend by more than 5% annually through 2030. The French energy major now expects oil and gas production to grow 2% to 3% annually between 2030 and 2035, supported by projects in Namibia, Nigeria, Malaysia, Mozambique, and Papua New Guinea, with total energy production including electricity growing around 4% annually through 2030. Management is targeting shareholder distributions equal to 40% of cash flow, with CEO Patrick Pouyanné saying annual returns need to reach roughly $7.5 billion to $8 billion, and the company expects $4 billion to $5 billion of additional operating cash flow between 2025 and 2030. Annual net investments are now expected at $14 billion to $17 billion from 2027 through 2032, while oil and gas production is seen growing more than 3% annually between 2025 and 2030 and electricity generation more than 20% annually to reach 100 to 120 TWh by 2030. The company ended the second quarter with a 13.1% gearing ratio, down 2.4 percentage points sequentially after cutting net debt by $3.3 billion, and management expects gearing below 10% by the end of 2026. JPMorgan analyst Matthew Lofting downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight with an €83 price target, while Piper Sandler raised its target to $93 from $84 and kept a Neutral rating.

TD Cowen analyst Jason Gabelman identified leading integrated oil companies positioned for strong third-quarter results, with TotalEnergies topping the list as excess cash generation builds across the sector. The analyst noted that integrated oil companies are directing excess cash toward balance sheets rather than raising distributions, signaling elevated macro uncertainty following Middle East conflict developments. TD Cowen estimates the peer group will generate $100 billion in excess cash from third-quarter 2026 through fourth-quarter 2027 at strip prices above forecast distributions and target debt metrics. The firm's earnings estimates stand roughly 20% above third-quarter consensus for both earnings per share and free cash flow, reflecting a rising commodity environment through the quarter that consensus has yet to fully capture. TotalEnergies remains TD Cowen's top pick, with performance expected to benefit from its September 28 Investor Day, and the analyst incorporated $0.35 per share trading outperformance for the company while expecting roughly equal free cash flow beats. Equinor is favored into earnings given strong gas prices and a lag on cash tax payments, with the company expected to beat consensus earnings per share by the widest margin, while ExxonMobil could see investors rotate back from Chevron, for which TD Cowen includes a $1.50 per share timing headwind.

Oil traders have initiated the first west African crude cargo transaction on the Argus Open Markets platform, a step toward more transparent and auditable price discovery for physical crude. The deal was initiated on the west African crude AOM stack, with TotalEnergies accepting the offer of a Nigerian Qua Iboe crude cargo at a premium of $4.10/bl to Dated Brent for a 950,000 bl cargo, representing an estimated value of more than $115mn. Argus operates AOM platforms across a range of markets, enabling registered participants to post bids and offers, discover counterparties and initiate transactions within a transparent and auditable framework. Argus Media chairman and chief executive Adrian Binks called the trade an important milestone for price discovery, noting that west African crude is increasingly in demand as buyers seek alternatives for lost Mideast Gulf supplies. West African grades are usually traded as differentials to other outright-price crude benchmarks, and Argus said its west African crude differentials are widely referenced by market participants assessing the relative value of Nigerian, Angolan and other regional grades.

TotalEnergies and its partners SOCAR and XRG have taken the Final Investment Decision for the Full Field Development of the Absheron gas and condensate field in the Caspian Sea. TotalEnergies holds 35% and operatorship, SOCAR holds 35% and XRG holds 30%. The full field development will raise overall field production to 6 BCMA of gas and 47,000 barrels per day of condensate, up from the first phase's 1.5 BCMA and 12,000 barrels per day, with start-up expected in 2029. The field, located 100 km south-east of Baku, holds approximately 140 billion cubic meters of recoverable gas reserves, and its output will supply Azerbaijan's domestic market and be exported to Turkey through existing infrastructure. Gas will be produced from 4 subsea wells and processed in a new fully electrified onshore plant, keeping the project's scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions intensity below 4 kg CO2e/boe.

TotalEnergies SE has signed a memorandum of understanding with Venezuela's government, laying the groundwork for a potential return to the country after an absence since 2021. No financial or production details of the agreement were disclosed at the signing ceremony in Caracas on September 19. The French oil giant had withdrawn from the Petrocedeno joint venture in the Orinoco Belt in 2021, taking a $1.38 billion write-down. CEO Patrick Pouyanne said in January that adding 100,000 or 200,000 barrels per day of production from Venezuela could be feasible, and an official from the Ministry of Hydrocarbons said one field included in the agreement is Travi, which produces light crude used as a diluent for extra-heavy crudes. The deal follows a flurry of oil agreements between multinational companies and Venezuela's new government after the ouster of former president Nicolas Maduro in January, with President Trump pushing international operators to revive the country's ageing oil infrastructure.

TotalEnergies SE and Iraq's government have agreed to hold discussions on energy projects that could lift the French company's Iraqi oil and gas investment to $16 billion from $12 billion, according to a Reuters report on September 14. Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanne disclosed the figures after meeting Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in Paris, where the prime minister outlined plans to raise his country's oil production to 10 million barrels per day over the next five years. TotalEnergies already holds a 45% stake in the roughly $10 billion Gas Growth Integrated Project, a multi-energy development spanning oil, gas, solar power and seawater treatment, and expects the Ratawi field's full development to reach 210,000 barrels per day. The company is targeting 3% growth in total oil and gas production in 2026, with Ratawi among the contributing projects. The announcement gave no value, timeframe, production target or expected earnings contribution, and Pouyanne has warned that the Strait of Hormuz is a battleground where crossing risks are extremely high and could become the new normal.

HSBC upgraded BP and TotalEnergies to Buy from Hold on Friday, raising earnings and cash flow estimates across its global oil coverage after lifting its Brent crude, refining margin, and gas price forecasts. Analysts led by Kim Fustier raised their 2026 Brent assumption to approximately $90 per barrel from $80, and their 2027 forecast to $85 from $65, citing a partial, gradual recovery in Strait of Hormuz flows, while also raising the second-half 2026 TTF gas price forecast to $22.5 per million British thermal units from $16.7 and the 2027 forecast to $17 from $12. The revisions lifted HSBC's 2026-28 earnings-per-share estimates across the sector by averages of 19%, 65% and 33%, respectively, with cash flow per share estimates rising by averages of 12%, 30% and 14%, and the largest revisions falling on international majors given their combined upstream, refining and trading exposure. For BP, HSBC raised its price target to 640 pence from 570 pence, implying nearly 18% upside, and for TotalEnergies it raised its target to €93 from €80, implying 18.4% upside. HSBC retained Buy ratings on Shell, Repsol and Chevron, raising Chevron's price target to $250 from $218 and expecting it to lift its annual buyback run rate to $15 billion from $10-12 billion, while Eni, Equinor, Galp and ExxonMobil stayed at Hold and OMV remained at Reduce.

The Board of Directors of TotalEnergies has unanimously reaffirmed the relevance of the company's strategy and its confidence in the governance and management to continue its implementation. Following its annual strategic seminar held on September 23 and 24, 2026, the Board said it wants Patrick Pouyanné to continue driving the strategy's deployment as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and decided unanimously to keep the positions of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer combined. On the proposal of the Governance and Ethics Committee, the Board unanimously decided that the renewal of Patrick Pouyanné's mandate will be proposed to the Shareholders' Meeting in May 2027, along with the renewal of the mandate of Jacques Aschenbroich, who has held the position of Lead Independent Director since May 2023. The Board also noted the high level of shareholder support, close to 98%, for the amendment to the statutory age limits for the exercise of the duties of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, which was submitted to the Shareholders' Meeting on May 29, 2026. The company's outlook will be presented to investors on September 28, 2026.

TotalEnergies SE announced on September 7, 2026 that its 5.6 Mtpa Papua LNG project has reached critical commercial and contractual milestones toward a Final Investment Decision, including completion of the EPC tendering process and a joint marketing venture with Kumul Petroleum to commercialize 2.4 Mtpa. Operatorship of the project is transferring to ExxonMobil Holdings Corporation, operator of the neighboring PNG LNG project, to maximize operational synergies. As part of the transition, TotalEnergies will sell a 9.1% interest to existing partners, retaining a 20% stake alongside a 1.5 Mtpa LNG offtake agreement. For TotalEnergies, the farm-down and transfer of operatorship lower capital expenditure requirements while preserving long-term, high-margin LNG volumes aimed at fast-growing Asian markets. For ExxonMobil, integrating Papua LNG with its established PNG LNG infrastructure captures substantial operational synergies and scales low-cost upstream production near demand centers.

TotalEnergies and its partner AMNI have taken the Final Investment Decision for the development of the Ima gas field, straddling the OML 112 and 117 offshore licenses in Nigeria. TotalEnergies holds 40% and operatorship, while AMNI holds 60%. The shallow-water field near Bonny Island will be developed with a single platform connected by a 22 km pipeline to Nigeria LNG, in which TotalEnergies holds 15%. Production is expected to start up in 2028 at a plateau of 350 million cubic feet per day, or over 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, and once on stream Ima will supply about one-third of the gas required for the ongoing Nigeria LNG Train 7 expansion, which will raise the liquefaction plant's capacity from 22 million tons per annum to 30 Mtpa. TotalEnergies described Ima as a low-cost, low-emissions development with a simplified platform design, electric power from shore, no flaring, and permanent methane detection and monitoring, and said all key contractors are local companies, with around 60% of the workforce expected to come from host communities.

TotalEnergies has agreed a $1.8 billion infrastructure partnership with Global Infrastructure Partners, a BlackRock unit, focused on African oil and gas assets. The transaction centers on midstream infrastructure and gives TotalEnergies additional access to capital tied to its African energy projects. Under the arrangement, management is effectively swapping full ownership of some African midstream assets for upfront cash and a throughput-based payment obligation over up to 15 years, bringing in US$1.8 billion without issuing equity while keeping operational control of the wider projects. Management presented the deal as a way to crystallize value in existing assets while refining how future projects are funded and managed, with the proceeds potentially directed toward LNG, power and exploration priorities. The key test for investors will be how quickly TotalEnergies discloses where the US$1.8 billion is going, including capex allocations to Angolan blocks, LNG projects or the Mistral AI program over the next 12 to 24 months.

TotalEnergies has entered into a three-year partnership with French AI company Mistral to develop AI models for oil and gas reservoir exploration and engineering, backed by an investment of more than €100m. The joint programme aims to improve the ability to integrate, process and interpret large volumes of geoscientific data, combining TotalEnergies' expertise in subsurface geoscience and reservoir engineering with Mistral's technological and scientific resources. The goal is to create AI models that generate multiple development scenarios for exploration opportunities, as well as optimise or extend the life of existing projects. The companies plan to use next-generation AI techniques including agentic AI to work with up to ten petaflops of data, alongside nearly a century of TotalEnergies' accumulated geoscience knowledge, and will set up a shared scientific laboratory bringing together TotalEnergies' subsurface specialists and Mistral's scientific and technical skills. TotalEnergies chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné said exploration and reservoir engineering are among the areas where artificial intelligence can create the greatest value, while Mistral co-founder and CEO Arthur Mensch said the project demonstrates the ability of its models to support complex industrial processes. Earlier this month, TotalEnergies completed an asset swap with Galp following an agreement reached in December 2025, acquiring a 40% operated interest in the PEL83 licence, which includes the Mopane discovery, in return for Galp receiving a 10% participating interest in the PEL56 licence, covering the Venus discovery, and a 9.39% participating interest in the PEL91 licence.

TotalEnergies signed new exploration agreements to operate Angola's offshore Blocks 17/25 and 32/21 in the Lower Congo Basin, expanding its operated footprint in the country. The company also reported rapid first oil from its Acacia-5 discovery, using existing offshore infrastructure to move from find to output quickly. The two Angolan blocks add fresh optionality around future African upstream project volumes, with shared operatorship alongside ExxonMobil and Sonangol. TotalEnergies operates as a large integrated energy producer with a €176.8 billion market cap, spanning oil, biofuels, natural gas, low carbon hydrogen, renewables and electricity across Africa, Europe, the United States and beyond. The expansion deepens the group's dependence on steady project delivery and stable regulation in Africa even as it supports its strategy of redeploying capital into lower-cost, higher-return hydrocarbon projects.

TotalEnergies plans to invest $10 billion alongside its partners in Angola over the next five years to maintain and potentially increase its oil production there. The company currently produces around 450,000 barrels per day in Angola, making it the country's largest oil operator and accounting for more than 40% of its total output. The spending will cover existing operations, new exploration, and projects to replace production from Angola's aging offshore fields, including the $6 billion Kaminho development, which is expected to start producing oil in 2028. TotalEnergies has also signed agreements for two additional offshore blocks and recently announced a discovery in Block 17 that could add roughly 6,000 barrels per day. The company acknowledged that much of the $10 billion may be needed just to keep production from falling, and that major projects such as Kaminho will not begin producing until 2028, leaving returns dependent on oil prices and subject to potential delays.

Jane Street disclosed two new energy stock positions in its second-quarter filings, buying about 3.86 million shares of X-Energy Inc. worth roughly $70.8 million and about 1.21 million shares of TotalEnergies SE worth roughly $94.1 million. X-Energy is an advanced nuclear company developing small modular reactors, with its first commercial project being developed with Dow in Texas, where four Xe-100 reactors are expected to provide electricity and industrial steam. The US Department of Energy has committed up to about $2.1 billion toward the demonstration program under a cost-sharing arrangement, and X-Energy and Amazon are working toward more than 5 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity. Bears note the company is still early-stage, with commercial reactors years from operation and significant regulatory and execution risk. Jane Street is a private New York trading firm and one of the world's largest market makers, with over $1 trillion in managed 13F securities as of the end of June.

TotalEnergies has agreed to acquire Plastic Energy's 35% interest in the Grandpuits advanced plastics recycling plant, giving it sole ownership of the facility in which it already held a 65% stake. The move follows the restructuring of Plastic Energy's shareholding. Located in Seine-et-Marne, the plant began production in March 2026 and has an annual capacity to process 15,000 tons of plastic waste. It converts hard-to-recycle plastic waste from French households, including material collected in yellow recycling bins that would otherwise go to landfill or incineration, into synthetic oil through a pyrolysis process, producing circular petrochemical feedstock that can substitute for fossil feedstocks. In 2023, TotalEnergies signed an agreement with French partners Citeo and Paprec to secure the plant's long-term supply of plastic waste.

Kazakhstan has suspended efforts to collect a $5.06 billion environmental fine from the Kashagan oil consortium, according to Interfax, easing a threat to Exxon Mobil, which holds a 16.81% stake in the project. Exxon's shares traded virtually flat at $159.55. The fine, which Exxon's share would theoretically amount to about $851 million, represents less than 5% of the company's latest quarterly free cash flow of $17.2 billion. However, the consortium, which also includes Shell and TotalEnergies, continues to reject Kazakhstan's sulfur-storage claims, and international arbitration keeps the wider dispute alive. The suspension buys time but does not eliminate political risk for Kashagan's expansion.

TotalEnergies gained 1.5% to 77.27 on Monday after announcing it will sell a 9.1-percentage-point stake in Papua LNG to existing partners, reducing its ownership from 29.1% to 20% and handing project control to Exxon Mobil. The company retains access to gas without carrying the same construction burden. Design revisions and fresh contract bids have cut projected development costs by nearly $4 billion to roughly $14 billion. Papua LNG is designed to produce 5.6 million tonnes annually, primarily for Asian customers, while TotalEnergies retains 1.5 million tonnes of yearly offtake. The partners aim for a final investment decision in the fourth quarter. TotalEnergies' theoretical share of the budget drops from about $4.07 billion to $2.8 billion, reducing its exposure by roughly $1.27 billion before adjustments. The shares trade 39.71% above their $63.41 GF Value estimate, and with $9.8 billion of second-quarter cash flow, the company can fund its remaining commitment.

Iraq's new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has announced plans to raise oil production to between 8 million and 10 million barrels per day within six years, a target that may finally be achievable and could allow Iraq to surpass Saudi Arabia as the Middle East's top oil producer. Iraq's crude output averaged 2.38 million bpd from 1973 until 2026, and was 4.14 million bpd before the Strait of Hormuz blockade began in February, while Saudi Arabia averaged 8.29 million bpd over the same period and produced 10.1 million bpd pre-blockade. Key factors supporting Iraq's goal include its vast reserves—officially 145 billion barrels, with undiscovered resources estimated at 215 billion barrels and ultimately recoverable resources at 246 billion barrels—and a recent decline in corruption that had driven Western firms away, with several now returning. Most critically, TotalEnergies' US$27-billion mega-project, ratified in 2023, will boost associated gas capture, increase Ratawi oil field output from 60,000 to 120,000 bpd initially, and implement the Common Seawater Supply Project to stabilize pressure at major fields. A back-of-the-envelope calculation based on super-giant fields alone suggests potential output of 11.5 million bpd, excluding other fields and Kurdistan, making the new target look realistic.

TotalEnergies has taken major steps toward a final investment decision on the Papua LNG project in Papua New Guinea, cutting estimated capital expenditure to around $14 billion and agreeing to transfer operatorship to ExxonMobil. The French energy major said project optimization and new engineering, procurement and construction tenders have generated close to $4 billion in cost savings since 2024, including changes to the upstream condensate development and increased integration with existing PNG LNG infrastructure. ExxonMobil will become operator of Papua LNG, expanding its role in the country's LNG sector, and will hold a 34.1% stake, while TotalEnergies will sell a 9.1% interest to partners, reducing its stake to 20%. Santos will own 21%, ENEOS Xplora 2.4%, and PNG state entities Kumul Petroleum and MRDC a combined 22.5%. The partners have also finalized amendments to the 2019 gas agreement with the government, and TotalEnergies and PNG state entities have created an LNG marketing joint venture to commercialize 2.4 million tonnes per year from the project's planned total production of 5.6 million tonnes per year. TotalEnergies has signed a heads of agreement to purchase 1.5 million tonnes per year from that venture. The moves bring the project closer to an FID, which Santos said remains on track for the fourth quarter of 2026.

Piper Sandler has lifted its price target on Chevron to a Street-high $243 from $207, part of a broader round of estimate increases across its integrated oil and refiner coverage driven by stronger crude and refining margins. The firm kept its overweight rating on the stock. Analyst John Royall raised the third-quarter Brent forecast to $88 per barrel from $80, and the fourth-quarter forecast to $90, citing continued supply issues on the diesel side lasting well into next year. The changes pushed Piper Sandler's estimates about 12% and 27% ahead of Wall Street's 2026 third-quarter and 2027 EBITDA forecasts for the majors, and roughly 15% and 36% above consensus for the refiners. Piper Sandler also lifted price targets for BP to $46, MPC to $462, PSX to $264, SHEL to $100, TTE to $93, VLO to $435, and XOM to $185.

For the first time in Europe, Germany is bringing together the full ecosystem needed to scale hydrogen truck deployment by 2030, as Volvo Group, Daimler Truck, Toyota Motor Corporation, Bosch, Air Liquide, TotalEnergies, TEAL Mobility, and MB Energy join forces with German policymakers to commercialize hydrogen-powered mobility. The collaboration will deploy hydrogen refueling stations along key strategic corridors in Europe, synchronized with hydrogen-powered truck fleets and a competitive hydrogen price, enabling customers to achieve a competitive total cost of ownership. Full details will be unveiled at a CEO-led press event during IAA Transportation in Hanover on September 15.

TotalEnergies has completed its transaction with Galp, acquiring a 40% operated interest in Namibia's PEL83 license, which holds the giant Mopane discovery, while Galp received a 10% participating interest in PEL56 and a 9.39% interest in PEL91. Following the deal, TotalEnergies now operates PEL83 with 40% alongside Galp (40%), Namcor (10%), and Custos (10%), and also operates PEL56 with 35.25% and PEL91 with 33.09%. CEO Patrick Pouyanné called the entry a key milestone toward establishing a major production hub in Namibia, positioning TotalEnergies as operator of the country's two largest oil discoveries. Appraisal of Mopane is set to begin in the second half of 2026, with a final investment decision targeted for 2028 after a three-well campaign.

TotalEnergies SE has disclosed the purchase of its own shares from August 24 to August 28, 2026, totaling 1,594,110 shares for an aggregate amount of 119,999,831.31 euros, with a daily weighted average purchase price of 75.277008 euros per share. The transactions were executed across four trading venues, including XPAR, CEUX, TQEX, and AQEU, with the largest volumes traded on XPAR. These repurchases were conducted under the authorization granted by the shareholders' general meeting on May 29, 2026, and in accordance with applicable share repurchase laws.

TotalEnergies gained about 2% to $88.08 in U.S. trading Monday as Brent crude broke above $90, lifting energy stocks despite rising bond yields pressuring the broader European market. The company reported $9.8 billion in cash flow and $6 billion in adjusted net income for the second quarter, cut gearing to 13%, and raised its quarterly dividend 5.9% to 0.90 per share, a cash haul representing roughly 4.8% of its market value. However, shares trade 38.69% above the $63.51 GF Value estimate, indicating a hefty premium. Middle East disruptions cut average production by 210,000 barrels of oil-equivalent per day in the second quarter, and while higher crude helps, restoring output is key.

Brent crude oil prices have fallen from above $120 per barrel in late April to around $87 per barrel, as Gulf producers, particularly Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, have cooperated to address tight supply using a shuttling technique—short-haul transport through the Strait of Hormuz to safe points in the Gulf of Oman, where oil is transferred ship-to-ship to conventional tankers. The UAE was the first to adopt this, followed by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar. Kuwait used its own fleet of 11 VLCCs, disabling positioning signals for over two months to conceal their movements, while Qatar partnered with TotalEnergies for ship-to-ship transfers outside the strait. As a result, the volume of oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz has recovered to 7-8 million barrels per day, or about 75% of pre-war levels, with some periods reaching nearly 10 million barrels per day. Kuwait and Qatar have managed to restore up to 70% of their normal export volumes, from a combined baseline of about 2 million barrels per day. This success has helped ease panic in global energy markets and maintain oil price stability, despite ongoing security risks in the Strait of Hormuz and stalled negotiations between Tehran and Washington.