TOTALENERGIES AND FINANCIAL MARKETS

The document examines TotalEnergies' use of the bond market to secure long-term financing, noting a trend toward abnormally long maturities extending to 2064. It argues that these bonds provide the company with unrestricted funds to pursue fossil fuel expansion, contrary to IEA Net Zero scenarios, while creating systemic and financial risks for the banks and investors involved. The report identifies specific financial institutions facilitating these issuances and calls for a total cessation of support for companies developing new oil and gas projects.

• TotalEnergies is issuing bonds with exceptionally long maturities, including tranches extending to 2064. In 2024, the company raised over US$7 billion through two bond issuances (US$3 billion in September and US$4.25 billion in April) with maturities reaching 2034, 2054, and 2064.
• There is a documented trend of increasing bond maturities for TotalEnergies and other oil majors like Shell and BP. For TotalEnergies, the average maturity of bonds issued between 2020 and 2024 was 22 years, compared to 6 years for those issued between 2000 and 2004.
• Bonds are a preferred financing tool because they offer unrestricted use of funds, allowing TotalEnergies to finance general needs, including new fossil fuel projects, without the constraints often found in project-specific bank loans. Between 2016 and 2023, bonds accounted for 69.8% of TotalEnergies' external financing.
• TotalEnergies' investment plans are inconsistent with the IEA's Net Zero by 2050 scenario. The company intends to allocate more than 67% of its investments to oil and gas activities by 2030, with 30% of investments by 2028 directed toward new fossil fuel projects.
• The company's long-term projects are expected to have significant climate impacts. New projects planned over the next 40 years could extract 14 billion barrels of oil and gas and emit 5 billion tonnes of CO2e, which is 13 times France's 2023 greenhouse gas emissions.
• TotalEnergies has increasingly used 'hybrid' bonds, which are subordinated debt instruments that can be accounted for as equity. In 2021 and 2022, 100% of the company's bond issuances were hybrid.
• Financial institutions face systemic and financial risks by supporting these long-term bonds, as climate regulations and the transition to renewables may turn new oil fields and LNG terminals into stranded assets.

APA

Bouhey, A., & Cuvelier, L. (2024). TOTALENERGIES AND FINANCIAL MARKETS. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TotalEnergies-and-Financial-Markets-English-version.pdf

Chicago

Bouhey, Antoine, and Lara Cuvelier. TOTALENERGIES AND FINANCIAL MARKETS. Reclaim Finance, 2024. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TotalEnergies-and-Financial-Markets-English-version.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bouhey |first1=Antoine |last2=Cuvelier |first2=Lara |title=TOTALENERGIES AND FINANCIAL MARKETS |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=September 2024 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TotalEnergies-and-Financial-Markets-English-version.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bouhey2024totalenergies, author = {Bouhey, Antoine and Cuvelier, Lara}, title = {{TOTALENERGIES AND FINANCIAL MARKETS}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TotalEnergies-and-Financial-Markets-English-version.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }