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Total aims for power to reach 20% of sales mix by 2030

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CEO says gas more expensive, oil demand growth slowing

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AI, Data boom requires more power

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Renewables expansion allows for growth in gas sales

By America Hernandez and Yousef Saba

ABU DHABI/PARIS, Nov 3 - TotalEnergies'

increasing investment in electricity allows for a more

predictable income stream that does not follow the boom and bust

cycles of the oil and gas industry, CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on

Monday.

The French oil major's strategy aims to have electricity

account for 20% of sales by 2030, up from 11% last year, to

capture profits on power demand, the fastest growing energy

sector in coming years.

"Electricity does not follow the cycle of oil and gas, so

investing in electricity in my company is giving more resilience

to my business model," Pouyanne said at Abu Dhabi's annual

International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference.

"When we looked at the potential of different forms of

energy in terms of demand for the next 15 or 30 years, what

strikes us is that in oil, growth for 20 years has been quite

limited - gas has big potential but gas is more expensive.

"But fundamentally for not only AI, but for decarbonization,

we need more and more electricity," he said.

He said he believed global renewables capacity would double by

2040, noting that because power supply lags the surging demand

from data centres that power artificial intelligence, more

capacity needed to be built to match the AI boom.

Pouyanne added that investing in renewables complemented

TotalEnergies' gas business because as renewable capacity

increases, so does the need for natural gas-fired plants to

ensure stable supply during intermittent periods of solar and

wind generation.