Who is the CEO of Total?

Total is an international gas and oil company established in 1924 and is one of seven ‘Supermajor’ oil companies across the globe. Its commercial activity covers the oil and gas value chain, including the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas to power generation; refining; transportation; marketing of petroleum product; and crude oil trading internationally.

How Did Total Start?

The company was established shortly after World War One, when Raymond Poincaré, the French President, declined the opportunity to become partners with Royal Dutch Shell. He instead set out to create a solely French oil company. At Poincaré’s command, Col. Ernest Mercier, along with the backing of 90 companies and banks, founded Total in March 1924. It was then known as the Compagnie Française des Pétroles (CFP), which translates to ‘The French Petroleum Company’.

In the 1930s, the company took part in various exploration and production projects, mainly in the Middle East, and its first refinery started operating in Normandy in 1933. At the end of World War Two, CFP was involved in oil exploration in Canada, Venezuela and Africa. In 1954, CFP announced its downstream creation - Total brand of gas in Europe and Africa.

In 1980, Total Petroleum (North America) Ltd, of which 50 percent was controlled by CFP, purchased Vickers Petroleum’s American refining and marketing resources. This provided Total with refining capacity, transportation and 350 service stations based in 20 states.

Who is the CEO?

The current chairman and Total CEO is Patrick Pouyanné. Pouyanné’s career began at the French Ministry of Industry in 1989. In 1997 he became a general secretary at the petroleum business, Elf, and two years later, he became part of the management team for Qatari’s exploration and production division. In 2000, Total took control of Elf and Pouyanné kept the same occupation in this innovative French conglomerate - a conglomerate that connected the ten most influential petroleum groups across the globe.

Two years later, he was appointed as the senior vice president of Total’s exploration and production division, in control of the finance and information systems. Later on in 2006, Pouyanné took charge of the business development strategy, research and development.

In the same year, Pouyanné became part of Total’s management team, and in 2011, he was selected to be the company’s deputy general manager of the refining chemicals division. Thriving in this department, he became a member of the executive committee, and in 2012 he was appointed as the president.

In 2014, Christophe de Margerie, the current Total CEO, passed away. It was then determined that the job specifications of ‘President of the Board of Directors’ and ‘Executive Director’ should be separated. Pouyanné was subsequently selected as CEO and President of the Executive Committee, during which the honorary president, Thierry Desmarest, was temporarily appointed as President.

In May 2015, Pouyanné was chosen to be a member of Total’s board of directors and in December, he was elected as the Total CEO.

Total’s Values

Total outlines five strong values that are embedded in everything that it does: safety, respect for others, pioneering spirit, the need to stand together and a performance-minded attitude. These values form the basis of its relationships with investors and make achieving its business objective - to be a Responsible Energy Major - possible. Total identifies this goal as an ambition to provide energy that is clean, reliable and affordable. Energy is an essential, constantly-adapting resource that has played a crucial role in how society has shifted over time. Therefore, it is vital to provide energy in an ethical way.

Total’s Ethics Policy

Total works in a vast amount of countries, each with their own unique, complex sociocultural and economic environment. Therefore, there are potential health, security, safety, environmental and ethical risks, and very high expectations from civil society to confront them and put adequate measures in place. As a result, Total fully respects the environment which provides the resources from which the company profits. It believes that this, along with abiding by the expectations of the stakeholders, is the key to sustainable and responsible growth.

Ultimately, its long-term growth and viability plan is built on three guiding principles: respecting human rights, meeting stringent integrity standards and abiding by environmental expectations.

Total in the UK

Total has been up and running in the UK for over 50 years. It is one of the main oil and gas, and energy providers, with 2018 boasting an equity production of 185,000. Total is integrated in all divisions of the energy industry, including production, refining, trading, exploration and marketing to consumers.

In the UK, natural gas represents 68 percent of Total’s production. This originates from three principle locations – the West of Shetland, Central Graben and Northern North Sea.

In 2016 Total finalised the £3.5 billion Laggan-Tormore project - a landmark development that was instigated for gas exploration purposes in the West of Shetland. This innovative infrastructure was used to bring the Edradour-Glenlivet fields online in 2017. Impressively, this all happened a year ahead of schedule and under budget.

There are approximately 2,000 people employed by Total in the UK, and thousands more jobs are linked to the company. Total makes sure to invest in its employees’ futures through training programmes, creating equal opportunities and scope to develop skills.

Why Choose Total Gas & Power to Power Your UK Business?

Since 1987, Total Gas & Power, a subsidiary of Total, has been supplying power to small and medium-sized businesses. At present, it supplies over 175,000 UK sites. The energy experts are dedicated to supporting SMEs - the category of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Total Gas & Power provides hassle-free energy with simple billing processes, budget certainty with fixed-rate products, 100 percent renewable electricity and gas alternatives, and some reassurance in an unpredictable energy market.

There aren’t any franchises for sale with Total currently, but perhaps there will be a demand for franchised units in the future. Keen investors should watch this space.