Total's restructure in France will close La Mède refinery
The company's plan for refining in France will also see investments in biofuels and desulphurisation
Total’s long-awaited restructuring plan for its refining operations in France will see crude processing end at one of its five facilities, while there will be investments in biofuels and desulphurisation. The company says the plan, together with a cut in capacity at its UK refinery, will fulfil the firm’s 2012 target of reducing its European refining capacity by 20%. Total is to cease processing crude at its 153,000 barrels a day (b/d) La Mède refinery, in the south, at the end of 2016, reducing its capacity in the country to 676,000 b/d. The firm says La Mède, together with its 219,000 b/d Donges refinery in western France, is “struggling and structurally loss-making”. But its other three r
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
