TotalEnergies to Buy Back $1.5 Billion of Shares by Year-End

(Bloomberg) -- TotalEnergies SE said it will buy back $1.5 billion of its shares in the fourth quarter, fulfilling a promise made earlier this year to boost returns and woo investors. 

The company also pledged to keep spending check in the coming years as it allocates most of its growth investment into natural gas and renewables. It said on Monday that it expects oil demand to peak by the end of this decade.

After enduring a historic slump due to the coronavirus pandemic, the world’s largest energy producers are seeing cash flow in again as crude prices surge. Most European oil majors have promised to return the extra funds to investors, or funnel it into low-carbon sources of energy, instead of attempting to expand oil production.

“TotalEnergies is confident in its ability to combine energy transition and shareholder return, thus creating long-term shareholder value,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The French energy giant will invest $13 billion to $15 billion a year from 2022 to 2025. The upper end of that range is $1 billion lower than the previous forecast. The company expects its total energy production to increase 30% by 2030, with the growth evenly split between renewables and liquefied natural gas. 

If the price of oil were to average $50 a barrel, TotalEnergies anticipates cash flow growth of $5 billion between 2021 and 2026, supporting dividend growth, the company said. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was trading near $80 on Tuesday. 

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