TotalEnergies Expands BlackRock Partnership With $1.8B African Infrastructure Agreement

The agreement gives TotalEnergies access to $1.8 billion in capital while tying future payments to the volume of infrastructure handled under the arrangement for up to 15 years.

• CFO Jean-Pierre Sbraire said the deal strengthens TotalEnergies ’ relationship with GIP.
• The company has not disclosed the individual assets or countries covered by the African infrastructure partnership.
• The deal builds on TotalEnergies’ infrastructure relationship with GIP, which began with a 2021 transaction involving the Gladstone LNG facilities in Australia.

TotalEnergies (TTE) has struck a $1.8 billion infrastructure partnership agreement with Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a part of BlackRock (BLK), giving the French energy major fresh capital tied to interests in some oil and gas infrastructure assets in Africa.

Under the agreement, announced Friday, GIP will provide $1.8 billion in capital to TotalEnergies. In return, the French energy company will subsequently pay GIP a throughput-based tariff for a period of up to 15 years.

TotalEnergies Unlocks Value From African Infrastructure

TotalEnergies CFO Jean-Pierre Sbraire said the agreement strengthens the company’s relationship with GIP and “crystallizes the value” of some of its midstream infrastructure assets in Africa.

The company did not disclose the specific infrastructure assets or African countries included in the partnership in its announcement.

TTE shares were down 1.7% in premarket trading at the time of writing on Friday, while BLK shares were trading higher.

Deal Follows Earlier GIP Infrastructure Partnership

The transaction expands an existing relationship between TotalEnergies and GIP that dates back to 2021.

In July 2021, TotalEnergies completed a transaction with GIP Australia involving the downstream facilities of its Gladstone LNG project. GIP provided more than $750 million, while TotalEnergies agreed to a 15-year throughput-based tolling arrangement calculated on its share of gas processed through the facilities. TotalEnergies retained full control and ownership of its 27.5% interest in the Gladstone LNG Downstream Joint Venture.

TotalEnergies said at the time that the Australian transaction monetized infrastructure assets and supported its portfolio-management strategy by allowing the company to focus capital on core producing assets. The company has not said whether the new African partnership will be treated the same way or involve a similar ownership arrangement.

Blackrock Acquired GIP In 2024

GIP is now part of BlackRock following the completion of its acquisition of the infrastructure investment firm in October 2024. TotalEnergies and GIP have also participated together in other energy investments, including the Rio Grande LNG Train 4 project in the U.S.

What Retail Investors Are Saying About TTE And BLK

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around TTE  and BLK stayed  ‘bearish’ over the past 24 hours.

BLK shares have gained more than 3.4% year-to-date, while TTE shares have climbed over 38% during the same period.

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