TotalEnergies' CEO Patrick Pouyanne
TotalEnergies hopes for better downstream year
The French major aims to make up ground after its recovery lagged peers in 2020
The post-Covid rebound in TotalEnergies’ European refinery margins last year was notably sluggish compared with its peers. But the firm is hoping for a perky performance in 2022. Its Q4 2021 European marker was just $2.30/bl, well below levels recorded by other refiners such as Portugal’s Galp, Spain’s Repsol, Poland’s PKN and Austria’s OMV, as well as the global refining margin reported by fellow major Shell (see Fig.1). It also restated its Q3 margin when presenting its Q4 results, revising it down from $2.80/bl to a more anaemic $1.20/bl. “Some markets, like aviation fuel, are still not yet at their pre-pandemic level” Pouyanne, TotalEnergies The firm’s CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, is hopeful
Also in this section
4 March 2026
The continent’s inventories were already depleted before conflict erupted in the Middle East, causing prices to spike ahead of the crucial summer refilling season
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
3 March 2026
The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in US–Israeli strikes marks the most serious escalation in the region in decades and a bigger potential threat to the oil market than the start of the Russia-Ukraine crisis
