The main motivation for TotalEnergies regarding Russia – where the French company has kept its assets despite Western sanctions – is to bring liquefied natural gas (LNG) over to Europe, its chief executive said.

“Our sole motivation is to bring over LNG to Europe,” TotalEnergies Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanne told a French parliamentary hearing, as he defended the company’s presence in Russia in spite of sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

Unlike London-based rivals BP and Shell, TotalEnergies has held on to investments in Russia, including minority stakes in gas producer Novatek and the Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 2 projects.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Jan Harvey)