TotalEnergies, a French company with U.S. headquarters in Houston, announced Monday it will terminate offshore wind projects valued at about $1 billion and invest that money in oil and gas projects, including in Texas.
The company’s CEO, Patrick Pouyanné, and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum made the announcement during a press briefing on the first day of CERAWeek by S&P Global, an international energy conference held annually in Houston.
“With this agreement, we’re allowing this great company to redirect those dollars that have been paid in the treasury to affordable, reliable and secure oil and natural gas production in the U.S.,” Burgum said.
The announcement comes as the Trump administration continues to deprioritize renewable energy sources and emphasize fossil fuels. The federal government will terminate TotalEnergies’ offshore wind leases and reimburse the company so it can reinvest money in oil and gas.
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“We are dedicated to continue to invest in the country, in the U.S. … but it’s better to allocate our capital to the most efficient way,” Pouyanné said.
TotalEnergies will invest $928 million in “upstream conventional oil” in the Gulf and shale production as well as the development of the Rio Grande LNG plant in Brownsville.
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More than 10,000 people are gathered in downtown Houston for CERAWeek, which brings together top energy executives and government officials from around the world. The conference this year has been dominated by conversations about disruptions to the energy market amidst the war in Iran, and the growing electricity demand generated by the growth of artificial intelligence data centers.
Read More: TotalEnergies starts CERAWeek by saying it will end offshore wind projects,
