Multinational energy business TotalEnergies, headquartered in France, has posted an 18% year-on-year drop in net income in the first quarter of 2025, falling from $5.1bn to $4.2bn.
The quarterly profit of $4.2bn was slightly down on the previous Q4 result ($4.4bn), but broadly in line with it, and the company made progress on many fronts in the quarter.
Integrated LNG recorded net operating income of $1.3bn and cashflow of $1.2bn for the first quarter, driven by higher year-on-year prices but was lower than Q4. The division’s performance was down 10% on the previous quarter but up 6% year-on-year.
LNG trading results were “in line with expectations” while gas trading grappled with the downturn of European markets following heightened uncertainties in the Russia–Ukraine conflict.
Quarterly highlights included signing a 10-year LNG contract with GSPC in India, for 0.4 Mt/yr, from 2026, and a similar volume agreement with Dominican Republic-based Energia Natural Dominicana for 15 years from 2027.
A 20-year LNG offtake agreement was also signed with NextDecade, for 1.5 Mt/yr, from the future train 4 of Rio Grande LNG in Texas, and confirmation of $4.7bn financing by export credit agency US EXIM for the Mozambique LNG project.
In the hydrogen and CCS space, TotalEnergies announced final investment decision on the second phase of the Northern Lights CCS project and launched projects with industrial gas major Air Liquide to produce green hydrogen for the operator’s European refineries.
In Zeeland, in the Netherlands, it announced a joint venture for the construction and operation of an electrolyser producing 30,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year.
A deal was also struck with German energy company RWE for the supply of 30,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year to decarbonise the Leuna refinery from 2030.
The quarter also saw the startup of BioNorrois, the second-largest biogas production unit in France to date.
Last week it unveiled plans to increase investments in green hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at its petrochemical refining site in Antwerp.
CEO Patrick Pouyanné said he did not anticipate any major disruption from the US tariff policy on existing projects but it could impact new projects that have yet to be sanctioned. “Remember there was a countermeasure to lower tax, this is something we have to keep in mind. At this stage it is a six-month uncertainty and we will have more clarity on the US investments by the end of the year because all these tariff negotiations will have landed one way or another.”
Asked how tariffs could impact the future of the LNG industry, where China is dominant, he said, “I think the US understands that if they want to export LNG without Chinese vessels, the export will be limited. There are a lot of discussions about this special tax on all vessels which are not built in the US … it could be a real issue for everybody, including customers. But that’s why as a board we took a position of ‘no over reaction’. At the end of the day, business will prevail.”
