FII9: Patrick Pouyanné - Chairman & CEO, TotalEnergies

Energy is a dilemma between security of supply, reliability, sustainability, climate change, and affordability, wherever we are on the planet. There is an issue with climate change. So, how often can we continue to act? For me, the Gulf is really at the core of the energy system. A perfect place to develop our mission to contribute to the prosperity of the world.

Thank you for welcoming me again.

Yeah, of course I enjoy Saudi Arabia. For us, it's a country of big investments, you know. We have invested $10 billion in a giant refinery with Aramco. Now, we are in a huge petrochemical project of another $15 billion. And we are also developing not only a business in oil and gas, but also in solar. Yesterday, we announced a large solar project which was awarded to us by the Kingdom, right? 400 MW. So, we are building a position, I would say, in our traditional business of oil and gas, petrochemicals, which is a way to add value to natural resources of the Kingdom, and also on solar, which is contributing to the transition in the Kingdom as well.

You know, what prosperity means for me in the field of my company? I would say our motto is 'more energy, less emissions', which means more affordable, reliable energy, and less emissions, more sustainable energy. And in fact, when I describe this, the contribution to prosperity will be, obviously, the Gulf is fitting well because here having a reliable source of energy in the Gulf is good, and an affordable one is also good. So, for me, the Gulf is really at the core of the energy system. By the way, Total Energies is born 101 years ago in the Gulf, in the Middle East, after the First World War. So, we came here, and we have developed the company. Today, we are the largest international oil company in the Gulf. So, we are deeply anchored because, again, fundamentally, if I want to deliver you some reliable and affordable energy, I come here, and I will bring it to you, wherever you are on the planet. So, it's really for me a perfect place to develop our mission to contribute to the prosperity of the world.

I mean, you know, governments, at the end, they want also security of supply. What they want is to find players who are able to do both, in fact. And this is exactly our strategy. Our strategy, which is, by the way, also a consistent strategy. Yes, we are an oil and gas company, and we are proud of it because this is the energy of today, and my mission today is to deliver to my customers reliable and affordable energy and gas. But at the same time, we have engaged with the company, and we moved our name from Total to Total Energies because we are becoming an electricity company. So, we are producing electrons, we are selling electrons, which, by the way, is a way to combine both worlds, you know. We speak a lot about electricity. Electricity is the energy to decarbonize. It's also the electricity required to make AI, to develop all these new digital worlds, which could be a path to prosperity as well for many people on the planet. So, we try in our company to give to the governments the flexibility they require by investing, and we invest $4 billion per year, so it's not small amounts, but also, at the same time, to deliver the energy of today.