French oil giant TotalEnergies has revealed a 6% yearly decrease in earnings from operations through the second quarter (Q2) of 2024.  

The financial results, published on Thursday, attributed the fall to weaker refined product margins and falling gas sales.  

Total’s adjusted net income for the three months to June was $4.7bn, down from $4.96bn last year and $5.1bn in Q1.  

According to Reuters, analysts had expected Total’s income to come in at $4.96bn.  

Whether this decrease in earnings is an industry-wide phenomenon is yet to be seen with TotalEnergies being the first major oil company to publish its results for Q1 and Q2. 

In a TotalEnergies webcast discussing the decrease in earnings, chief executive Patrick Pouyanne explained that despite the 6% decrease "TotalEnergies generated robust financial results in the second quarter". 

Earnings have fallen from the record levels seen in 2022, but were bolstered by a spike in energy prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  

Earnings remain above pre-pandemic levels with demand continuing to rise, especially for seaborne liquefied natural gas, said the energy giant. 

Despite this, decreasing demand for refined products is affecting profits and lower diesel demand across Europe continues to impact Total’s refining margins.  

Prices have also remained low due the volatility of the market caused by the sudden disruption to Russian supply. While the market normalises, price and demand are set to remain low.  

However, Total’s board of directors maintained that the latest results were still a success. The company issued conventional senior bonds totalling $4.25bn to the US market and also increased employee ownership of the company’s share capital by 8%.  

Total also made it clear it would also buy back up to $2bn worth of shares in the next quarter.