(Update) February 11, 2026, 5:10 PM GMT: Article updated with comments on dividend growth, potential investment decisions and acquisitions from 14th paragraph.
TotalEnergies SE trimmed its share buybacks to the lower end of its guidance range, aiming to keep debt in check as it adjusts to lower oil prices.
The company plans to repurchase $750 million of stock in the first quarter, compared with $1.5 billion in the final three months of 2025, it said in an earnings statement Wednesday. For the year, its buyback target was kept at a range of $3 billion to $6 billion.
TotalEnergies is the third and last of Europe’s top oil and gas producers to release earnings after Shell Plc and BP Plc published disappointing quarterly reports. The company has a lower ratio of debt to equity than its European peers and kept quarterly dividend unchanged.
“This year we want to balance cash generation with cash expenditure,” Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said during a press conference in Paris to discuss earnings. “We don’t know what will happen this year. We want to keep a healthy balance sheet.”
Shares of Total closed 2.7% up, at their highest since July 2024.
The company has a “solid balance sheet despite uncertain environment,“ Jefferies analysts led by Mark Wilson said in a note after the earnings release.
While Big Oil is still churning out hefty profits, cash flows — particularly in Europe — have been undermined by last year’s 18% dive in crude prices. There are also widespread forecasts that the market will remain oversupplied this year as production swells both inside and outside the OPEC+ alliance.
“Oil supply remains abundant, so the market is rather trending down,” Pouyanne said, adding that sanctions on Russia are causing a buildup of the nation’s crude at sea.
Total’s adjusted net income fell 13% in the fourth-quarter from a year earlier to $3.84 billion, in line with the average analyst estimate of $3.81 billion.
The buyout of $750 million compares with a pace of $2 billion in the first three quarters of last year.
While Shell maintained its quarterly pace of buybacks last week, smaller peers such as Norway’s Equinor ASA have also reduced their repurchases.
Total said it’s assuming benchmark Brent crude at $60 a barrel for 2026, and may adjust its buybacks along the year depending on how prices evolve. Brent is currently trading near $70 a barrel.
The company’s gearing — the ratio of net debt to equity — climbed to 14.7% at the end of 2025, excluding leases, from 8.3% the previous year. Pouyanne said Total aims to keep the ratio at about 15%.
The company left its quarterly dividend unchanged at €0.85 per share Wednesday, but plans to announce an increase by the end of April, the CEO said.
The French oil major foresees net investment of about $15 billion in 2026, down from $17.1 billion last year.
Production
The company said upstream production should grow by about 3%, helped by the startup of projects in Brazil, Iraq, Qatar, Algeria and Uganda. Oil and gas output should exceed the equivalent of 2.6 million barrels a day in the first quarter.
The company, which has expanded aggressively in Africa, aims to greenlight its Venus offshore oil project in Namibia this year, Pouyanne said. The company may also approve the development of its Ima gas project in Nigeria and sanction a liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea in 2026
Total, Europe’s top oil refiner, expects its refineries to operate at about 88% of capacity in the first quarter, with improved availability of certain units that underperformed in 2025.
Electricity output, a key plank of the company’s growth strategy for the coming years alongside liquefied natural gas, should rise by about 25% in 2026 to more than 60 terawatt hours.
Total should benefit from continued investment in renewables, and the planned acquisition of a 50% stake in a portfolio of European gas-fired power plants announced last November. The €5.1 billion purchase will be paid with new Total shares.
The company’s power business could become free cash flow positive as soon as this year for the first time, or in 2027 at the latest, Pouyanne said.
The company will seek to make acquisitions in solar and battery storage in the UK and Italy. It may buy further gas production assets in the US, which could be paid in shares now that they are also listed in New York, Pouyanne said.
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