Europe’s oil giants came into 2020 promising shareholders they can “do it all” — maintain generous dividends, keep the crude flowing and make a historic shift toward clean energy. Only one of them may succeed.
Investors with their first dividend cut since the Second World War, while BP Plc announced 10,000 jobs cuts and the sale of its chemical business as debt soared. But Total SA has so far weathered the storm, and investors are confident Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne can avoid his rivals’ stumbles.
Also read: TOTAL sends new rig to South Africa for rare frontier drilling
They see the French company as an early adopter of clean energy, with multi-billion investments in solar, wind and batteries, but also a rare haven in an industry shattered by the slump in energy prices.
