The Trump administration and TotalEnergies announced on Monday, March 23 that the French group would receive nearly a billion dollars in compensation for the abandonment of its two offshore wind projects in the United States, and would instead invest it in American gas and oil.
The announcement was made jointly by US Minister Doug Burgum and TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné on the first day of the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Texas. The two men signed the agreement on-site during a press conference.
The French CEO explained that it was a “win-win” agreement. TotalEnergies had secured two offshore wind project concessions (off the coast of New York and North Carolina) for $928 million before Donald Trump returned to the White House, but had put them on hold at the end of 2024 due to the new administration’s hostility towards wind power.
The French CEO chose to innovate and be “pragmatic” by negotiating with the Trump administration rather than pursuing legal action like other companies involved in more advanced projects. TotalEnergies concluded that “offshore wind is not the cheapest method to produce electricity” in the US, according to Patrick Pouyanné. The French group will retrieve every dollar and invest particularly in accelerating liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in the US, including the Rio Grande project.
“With this agreement, we allow this large company to redirect these dollars paid to the Treasury towards reliable, secure, and competitively priced natural gas and oil production,” praised US Interior Minister Doug Burgum. “This administration believes in energy realities, not climate fantasies,” he added.
