Total reports $7.2 billion annual loss in 2020

By Firdevs Yuksel and Sibel Morrow

ANKARA (AA) - French oil giant Total S.A. posted a net loss of over $7.2 billion for the full year of 2020 compared to $11.3 billion in earnings in 2019 due to lower Brent oil and natural gas prices and reduced refining margins, according to its financial results statement released on Tuesday.

The company also recorded a fourth-quarter 2020 income of $891 million, posting a 66% fall from fourth-quarter 2019 earnings of $2.6 billion.

The company’s CEO Patrick Pouyanne said the fourth-quarter results rebounded from the previous quarter thanks to strong OPEC+ discipline. Nonetheless, the outcome was still affected by low demand and high inventories.

The oil environment remains uncertain and dependent on the recovery of global demand, the company said, stressing that the COVID-19 pandemic is still exerting pressure on oil prices.

Total's oil production in 2020 decreased 9% year-on-year to almost 1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

The group anticipates that 2021 production will be stable compared to 2020, benefiting from the resumption of production in Libya.

- Revenue down 32.1% in 2020

Full-year revenue in 2020 amounted to $119.7 billion, marking a 32.1% fall from $176.2 billion in 2019.

The revenue of the oil company for the October-December period of last year reached $32.3 billion compared to $43.4 billion for the same quarter of 2019.

- Total considers changing its name to TotalEnergies

Total aimed to accelerate the implementation of its strategy to grow renewables with the addition of 10 gigawatts to its portfolio last year, and with investments in renewables and electricity worth $2 billion.

In line with its ambition to have net-zero emissions, the group has affirmed its plan to transform itself into a broad energy company to meet the dual challenge of the energy transition: more energy, less emissions.

In this respect, the company plans to make a transformation over the 2020-30 decade by growing energy production through LNG and renewables while sales of oil products are expected to drop from 55% to 30%.

"To anchor this transformation, the group will propose to its shareholders at the annual general meeting on May 28, changing its name to TotalEnergies," the company said.