Total quits API citing climate policy disagreement

Total said today that it will not renew its membership of the American Petroleum Institute (API), because it disagrees with the influential industry association's position on climate change.

The French firm is the first oil major to distance itself from the API, which counts ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, and Chevron as members. Its move may bring pressure, particularly on the European firms that have been vocal and proactive about the energy transition, to follow its lead.

Total's exit from the API makes good on a pledge to review its membership "in the event of lasting divergences", which the firm made when it decided against continuing its participation in the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) in late 2019. That followed a similar move by Shell in April of the same year. BP cut ties with the AFPM in February last year.

Total said today that its decision follows "a detailed analysis" of the API's climate positions, specifically mentioning the group's support for a rollback of US methane emissions regulations and its opposition to subsidies for electric vehicles. Total also said it has a different opinion to the API on carbon pricing, and noted that the API had given support during the recent US elections to candidates "who argued against the US' participation in the Paris Agreement".

API chief executive Mike Sommers said this week that: "A government focused on recovery for all should reject policies that could drive up energy costs and hurt those who can least afford them." He said the group is open to the possibility of further regulations on methane, without elaborating on what would types of regulation would be acceptable, but said that the API would oppose any attempt by incoming president Joe Biden to bar access to federal land or to block completion of the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline.

Total, by contrast, has an ambition to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, and has detailed a strategy to become a multi-energy company.

"As part of our climate ambition made public in May 2020, we are committed to ensuring, in a transparent manner, that the industry associations of which we are a member adopt positions and messages that are aligned with those of the group in the fight against climate change," Total's chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said today.

By Ben Winkley