© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: TotalEnergies Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanne speaks during the Energy Asia Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 26, 2023. REUTERS/Hassan Hussain/File Photo
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PARIS (Reuters) – Chief Executive Officer of French oil major Total Energy said on Saturday that the U.S. presidential election could cause a major energy shock if the Republicans win and decide to halt oil and gas exports.
“The only thing that could happen, which is a huge systemic risk, is that the Republicans decide to stop the export … In fact, I’m not even sure if it’s going to be gas, it could be oil one day,” Pouyann said. Panel discussion when asked about any potential risks related to global supply.
“The Americans base all their policies on the domestic price of gas or oil, they have resources, and if they feel that exports drive up their prices, they block us. Now, I can tell you that, in addition to the Russians, we lost American gas and oil,” he said, speaking alongside other industry executives. .. This is not a shock .. It is a super shock.”
“From this point of view, elections can be important, but in the end it is not (the president) who decides, but the private actors.”
At least 11 Republican candidates have announced that they will try to win their party’s nomination to take on Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 2024 election. Few concrete political pledges have yet to be announced.
Last year, the Biden administration conducted the largest-ever sale of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, at 180 million barrels, as part of a strategy to stabilize surging oil markets and combat higher pumping prices in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The sale angered Republicans, who accused the administration of leaving a supply stock so weak for the United States that it could not adequately respond to a future supply crisis.
Pouyanne also said that he expects a sustained rise in the price of a barrel of oil due to the global shift towards cleaner energy sources and lower oil investments.