France’s TotalEnergies said Thursday its first-quarter earnings rose on the back of higher oil and gas prices, while the energy giant’s LNG sales also improved when compared to the same period last year.
Adjusted net income rose three times to $9 billion from $3 billion last year, while it increased 32 percent when compared to the previous quarter of $6.83 billion.
Net income rose 48 percent year-on-year to $4.9 billion, but it declined 15 percent compared to the prior quarter.
“The rebound in energy prices seen since the second half of 2021 amplified after Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine in the first quarter of 2022, sending oil prices to more than $100/b and gas prices in Europe and Asia to historic highs above $30/Mbtu during the quarter,” chief executive Patrick Pouyanne, said.
TotalEnergies said yesterday it had booked a $4.1 billion impairment charge on Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 export project under construction in Russia.
In March, TotalEnergies said it would no longer provide capital and book proven reserves for the Arctic LNG 2 project due to the uncertainty created by the technological and financial sanctions on the ability to carry out the development.
LNG sales climb on high European demand
The company’s integrated gas, renewables and power segment reported adjusted net operating income of $3.1 billion, up 11 percent over the previous quarter, and cash flow of $2.6 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
“Notably, TotalEnergies leveraged its integrated midstream LNG to saturate its European regasification capacity thanks to record spot LNG purchases (4.7 Mt) and posted a very good performance in gas, LNG and electricity trading activities,” Pouyanne said.
LNG sales increased 34 percent to 13.3 million tonnes in the first quarter when compared to the same period last year. Sales also rose from 11.6 million tonnes in the fourth quarter.
The company said its average price for equity LNG sales in the first quarter had reached $13.60/MMBtu, logging a rise when compared to the previous three-month period but also year-on-year.