French energy major Total plans to increase further its exposure to the LNG market in the coming months while leveraging the current high oil price, the company said Friday in its third quarter earnings report.
"At the start of the fourth quarter, Brent continues to trade at $80/b due to supply tensions and the geopolitical context," said the company. "The Upstream is well positioned to profit from the increase in the oil price," it added, notably for the start-up of the third train at Yamal LNG in Russia and the second train at Ichthys LNG in Australia.
The third train at Yamal LNG is expected for December while the Ichthys LNG second train is expected to start up in the coming weeks. Yamal LNG has a production capacity of 16.5 million mt/year, while Ichthys LNG intends to lift production volumes to around 8.9 million mt/year when it reaches its production plateau.
Total holds a 20% stake in Yamal LNG project and a 30% stake in Ichthys LNG.
Total also finalized the acquisition of France's Engie's LNG business, making the company the second largest LNG player globally, after Royal Dutch Shell.
In mid-October, Total has also signed an agreement with India's Adani Group, which will see it jointly develop a fuel retail network and various LNG regasification terminals in India.
In August, the company sold its interest in the India's Hazira LNG terminal to Shell.
Gas production in Europe and Central Asia was 3,069 Mcf/d (86.9 million cu m/d) in the third quarter of 2018 or 20% up year on year and 12% up in the first nine months.
However, global production of gas was up only 2% year on year in Q3 to 6,557 Mcf/d (185.7 million cu m/d) while it was down 2% in first nine months of the year to 6,465 Mcf/d (183 million cu m/d).
LNG sales decreased 6% year on year in the Q3 to 2.78 mt. They also decreased by 9% in the nine first months of the year compared to 2017 to 7.75 mt.
