PARIS (Reuters) – The 2024 U.S. presidential election would cause a major energy shock if Republicans prevail and decide to halt U.S. hydrocarbon exports, the CEO of TotalEnergies said on Saturday.
Patrick Pouyanné, who spoke at the Aix-en-Provence Economic Meetings, recalled that his group was the leading exporter of American liquefied natural gas (LNG), to which Europe is increasingly resorting to compensate for the collapse of its imports of Russian gas, following the war in Ukraine.
“The only thing that could happen, which is a major systemic risk, is that the Republicans decide not to export anymore (…). Besides, I’m not sure that it’s on gas that it could come, it could come on oil one day,” the CEO said.
“The Americans steer their entire policy based on the domestic price of gas or oil, they have resources, and if they feel that exports are driving up their prices, they block us. So there, I can tell you to say that, if in addition to the Russians, we no longer have American gas and oil, it’s not a shock, it’s a super shock,” he added.
“From this point of view, the election can be important, but it is not (the president) who decides in the end, it is the private actors.”
Patrick Pouyanné also declared that he was counting on a “sustainably high” price per barrel, due to the energy transition and the drop in investment in oil.
(Report Benjamin Mallet)
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