Rebranded TotalEnergies Jamaica open to clean energy partnerships, investments

The Total gas stations in Jamaica are to be rebranded as TotalEnergies, aligning with the French oil company's global shift towards dealings in green and cleaner energy sources in the 130 markets in which it operates.

Last Friday, shareholders of the global energy giant approved its new direction and renaming from Total SA to TotalEnergies SE. Its focus will be on seven energy segments: oil, natural gas, biomass, wind, electricity, hydrogen and solar energy.

TotalEnergies, which operates some 75 service stations in Jamaica making it the largest network ahead of GB Energy-Texaco and Rubis Energy, expects their rebranding to be completed within weeks.

The company has no holdings in Jamaica beyond the petrol stations, but is looking to deepening its presence here, and is seeing opportunities around solar.

“We are open to ideas. We have reorganised ourselves to look at opportunities that are carbon-friendly to invest in,” CEO of TotalEnergies Jamaica Christopher Okonmah told the Financial Gleaner this week.

“Jamaica has also a lot of potential. There are opportunities for us to partner in solar electricity, but for any of the seven energies that can be done in Jamaica, we will see how we can partner or make direct investments,” he said.

In alignment with the Paris Agreement of 2016, signed by 196 countries, a global climate change initiative is under way to move companies like TotalEnergies away from fossil fuels, and towards the production of cleaner alternatives. The Paris Agreement aims to contain global warming below 2ºCelsius, but preferably at around 1.5ºC — temperatures are currently at around 1.2ºC — and is striving for a 'climate neutral' world.

TotalEnergies SE aims to reduce its direct emissions to 25 per cent by 2030, and hit net-zero emissions by 2050.

Last summer, London-based BP said its transformation plan would see it lowering carbon emissions by about a third, invest 10 times more in low-carbon energy to around US$5 billion per year, halt oil and gas explorations in new countries, and cut its oil and gas production by 40 per cent.

Royal Dutch Shell also set 2050 as its target date for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, but in a case brought by climate activists, a Dutch court in May also mandated that it meet an intermediary target of 45 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030.

Not all oil companies are embracing the carbon-neutral or clean energy agenda. An activist hedge fund called Engine No. 1 got three members ousted from Exxon Mobil's board, and has taken those seats in a bid to force the American oil giant to deal more aggressively with climate change (see story on Page 13).

TotalEnergies SE says it has set aside US$60 billion to finance renewable projects over the next 10 years. The portion earmarked for Jamaica has not been disclosed.

TotalEnergies Jamaica is already pursuing one initiative in the electricity sector. Jamaica has just begun the process of developing an electrical vehicle, or EV, charging market, and the French company is in discussions with power utility Jamaica Public Service Company for the installation of EV charging stations at five of its service stations.

“Everything is on the table. If we see something that we can acquire that is line with our ambition of carbon neutrality, then we will move towards that. But if there is a line of products that we can stop to better align with our vision then that is also something we will explore,” Okonmah said.

“But it will not happen today, it will happen over time,” he added.

karena.bennett@gleanerjm.com