TotalEnergies' Production Increase to Soften Hit From Weaker Prices — Update

By Adam Whittaker

TotalEnergies said higher oil-and-gas production will help soften the financial hit from weaker prices.

The French energy major said Tuesday that fourth-quarter oil-and-gas production grew nearly 5% on the same period a year prior when it produced 2.43 million barrels of oil equivalent a day. Production for the whole of 2025 increased close to 4% compared with its guidance of a more than 3% increase, it said.

Energy companies are grappling with a gloomy outlook as prices continue to weaken. The profits that enabled them to deliver bumper dividends and buybacks in recent years are under threat, and scrutiny of balance sheets is intensifying. In recent weeks peers BP, Shell and Exxon all made similar warnings about the hit to earnings from weaker prices.

While prices fell over the quarter, refining margins ticked upwards, which will help soften the hit.

TotalEnergies' average Brent crude price dropped to $63.7 a barrel from $69.1 a barrel in the third quarter. Meanwhile, its refining margin rose to $85.7 a metric ton from $63 a ton, giving a boost to its refining and chemicals results.

Liquefied natural gas production was supported by the completion of maintenance at its Ichthys plant offshore Australia. A rise in production and sales will offset the 5% fall in average LNG prices over the quarter, the company said.

Within its integrated-power division, cash flow will be supported by the farm-downs completed in the fourth quarter. This will enable the segment to reach more than $2.5  billion in annual cash flow, which is in line with its full-year guidance, the company said.

TotalEnergies is adopting a dual-strategy of growing oil-and-gas production, while betting heavily on electricity generation.

Like its rivals, TotalEnergies has doubled down on upstream investments, while dialing back low-carbon projects. However, it is also banking on growing power demand as electric vehicles increase and artificial-intelligence data centers spread.

In November, it bought 50% of a portfolio of assets owned by Energeticky a Prumyslovy Holding, the investment fund controlled by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. The large deal is premised on the hope that electricity generation--a mix of renewables, gas-fired power plants and batteries--can deliver profitability similar to fossil fuels.

Write to Adam Whittaker at adam.whittaker@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 20, 2026 04:10 ET (09:10 GMT)