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Mozambique LNG Project Restart Faces New War Crimes Allegations
The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) said on Tuesday it had filed a criminal complaint in France against TotalEnergies for complicity in war crimes, torture, and enforced disappearance at the Mozambique LNG site in 2021.
According to the NGO’s complaint, the French supermajor “is accused of having directly financed and materially supported the Joint Task Force, composed of Mozambican armed forces, which between July and September 2021, allegedly detained, tortured and killed dozens of civilians on TotalEnergies’ gas site.”
The European NGO has filed the complaint with the French National Anti Terrorism Prosecutor (PNAT), which also has a mandate to investigate international crimes.
The ECCHR claims that TotalEnergies knew of human rights violations committed by armed forces before the massacre.
The complaint is being filed just as TotalEnergies lifted the four-year-long force majeure on the Mozambique LNG project, which was stalled due to the precarious security situation near the site of the planned $20-billion export facility.
TotalEnergies has been accused several times of being complicit in violence at the site or near it, but the French group has rejected it had any knowledge of such incidents.
Following a Politico article last year, which is the basis for the new complaint by the ECCHR, TotalEnergies published the response of Mozambique LNG regarding the alleged violence.
“Mozambique LNG would like to clearly state that it has no knowledge of the alleged events described in your “Story Summary” and has never received any information indicating that such events took place,” the company operating the project said in September 2024 in response to the article.
TotalEnergies and its partners appear to be close to restarting the development of the project in Mozambique, which hinges on Mozambican government approval and an updated budget and schedule. The goal to achieve first LNG production has slipped, first to 2027, and later, to 2029.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
TotalEnergies to Appeal French Antitrust Fine Over Corsica Fuel Supply
By Charles Kennedy - Nov 18, 2025TotalEnergies (TTE) said it will appeal a decision by France’s Competition Authority that fined the company for allegedly restricting access to petroleum product depots in Corsica—an accusation the company firmly disputes after years of investigation.
The regulator’s ruling centers on a 2016 contractual clause governing access to shared oil depots on the island. According to TotalEnergies, the clause allowed depot shareholders priority access but did not block non-shareholder distributors, who could still obtain fuel under separate contractual arrangements. The company insists the Authority failed to demonstrate any measurable anti-competitive impact, either on the local distributor that filed the complaint or on consumers.
The French Competition Authority concluded that the depot-access clause constituted an anti-competitive practice and issued a fine. TotalEnergies argues the finding lacks evidentiary support, noting that the complaining distributor maintained its retail footprint, increased fuel volumes, and sourced product from multiple suppliers throughout the period under review.
The ruling closes a four-year inquiry involving multiple hearings and site inspections. Fuel logistics in Corsica are particularly sensitive due to the island’s geographic isolation, high transport costs, and limited infrastructure. TotalEnergies has been one of Corsica’s main suppliers for six decades and currently operates 47 service stations across the island, including rural sites that depend heavily on stable supply.
The company also highlighted recent fuel-price measures it implemented to support local purchasing power, including a €0.20-per-liter discount in 2022 and a price cap of €1.99 per liter that remains in effect.
TotalEnergies says it “struggles to see” how its behavior could be deemed anti-competitive given the supply dynamics and the absence of consumer harm. The company will challenge the ruling before the Paris Court of Appeal.
In a notable escalation, TotalEnergies warned that the fine is disproportionate relative to the profitability of its Corsican marketing operations. As a result, it has launched a strategic review that could reshape—or potentially curtail—its long-standing downstream presence on the island.
The case comes as European regulators maintain heightened scrutiny over fuel supply chains, market concentration, and pricing practices, especially in island territories where infrastructure constraints can amplify competition concerns. For energy investors, the outcome may influence how multinational suppliers structure joint-infrastructure agreements and regional pricing strategies in constrained markets.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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