Kerosene from TotalEnergies jointly owned gas field was allegedly used to fuel Russian warplanes, investigation shows; incl. co. comments
Investigation: TotalEnergies’ Siberian oil linked to Russian military attacks on civilians in Ukraine, 24 August 2022
The investigation, published by Global Witness and French newspaper Le Monde, shows gas condensate from Total’s Termokarstovoye field transported across Russia for refining, before being shipped as jet fuel to Russian Air Force bases near Ukraine.
Those include bases for Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers. The pilots of these warplanes have been accused by international experts and the Ukrainian government of indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, including a 3 March strike on Chernihiv, near Kyiv, which reportedly killed 47 civilians.
The findings increase pressure on Total, which unlike competitors has not pledged to pull out of its joint ventures in Russia. Total has previously stated that their activities “are completely unrelated to the conduct of military operations by Russia in Ukraine”...
Total owns 49% of TerNefteGaz, a company set up to operate the Termokarstovoye field, with Novatek owning the remainder. Total also owns 19.4%...of Novatek itself, giving the French company a majority economic interest in the joint venture.
Presented with the supply chain data by Le Monde, Total confirmed that all gas condensate produced by TerNefteGaz is sold to Novatek, making up 7% of the company's marketed volumes, but said that it did not have any information on Novatek's subsequent sales and has no control over the operational activities of Novatek, which is an entirely separate company...