TotalEnergies' Q3 earnings are down slightly as lower oil prices weigh

By America Hernandez

PARIS, 30 October - French oil giant TotalEnergies announced a 2.4% decline in earnings for the third quarter on Thursday. This was expected, as an increase in upstream production, and improved crude refining margins, partially offset lower oil price.

LSEG's analysts consensus showed that adjusted net income fell to $4.0 billion, down from $4.1 billion in the same period of last year.

The European margins for refining fuels have increased by more than 300% since the EU banned fuel imported from Russia, just as demand for diesel grew during the holiday driving period.

Total's downstream result was $462m higher than the previous year, helping to offset lower income from liquefied gas due to maintenance related outages.

Investors are putting pressure on Total to reduce its debt after it bought assets worth over $3 billion in the second half of 2018. Oil prices will also continue to drop in 2026. In the fourth quarter of 2018, Total announced a programme to reduce costs and buybacks, but some assets that were supposed to be sold for cash failed.

The company's gearing ratio (debt-to-equity) has been lowered to 17.3% from 17.9% during the second quarter 2025. Reporting by America Hernandez, Alban Kach in Gdansk. Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Richard Lough.

(source: Reuters)