{"id":135209,"date":"2026-05-28T17:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/135209\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T17:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:42:13","slug":"totalenergies-made-middle-east-oil-mega-trades-after-noticing-us-navy-buildup-in-gulf-in-february-ceo-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/135209\/","title":{"rendered":"TotalEnergies Made Middle East Oil Mega-Trades After Noticing US Navy Buildup in Gulf in February, CEO Says"},"content":{"rendered":"

By America Hernandez<\/p>\n

PARIS, May 28 (Reuters)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0French oil major TotalEnergies\u00a0TTEF.PA\u00a0made the decision to buy large amounts of Middle East crude in March after its traders noticed the U.S. Navy\u00a0amassing ships near the Gulf in February, its CEO told French newspaper Le Figaro in an interview published on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur oil traders \u2014 and it\u2019s their job \u2014 noticed that the U.S. Navy was massing ships around the Persian Gulf in February. They decided to take a position counter to the market, which was trending down at the time, and to buy, saying something was about to happen,\u201d CEO Patrick Pouyanne said.<\/p>\n

The Iran war broke out on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched large airstrikes on Iran.<\/p>\n

Total was the sole buyer in March of Middle East crude as the Iran conflict drastically cut supply,\u00a0snapping up<\/a>\u00a0around 70 Oman and Murban cargoes, or about 35 million barrels, trade data showed, which helped send the benchmark Dubai price to a\u00a0record high<\/a>\u00a0of nearly $170 per barrel.<\/p>\n

The Financial Times\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0in March, citing sources, that Total made more than $1 billion on the trade by using financial instruments such as futures, options and swaps to bet prices would rise.<\/p>\n

The Wall Street Journal reported on May 19 that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission was scrutinizing a surge in oil futures trading that occurred moments before U.S. President Donald Trump postponed strikes on Tehran in March, and was interested in at least three firms, including Total Oil Trading SA.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Total said on May 20 that the company was not aware of an investigation and that the company had strict compliance rules. Total did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.<\/p>\n

TotalEnergies reported last month a 29% jump in\u00a0first-quarter<\/a>\u00a0net income, driven by\u00a0March trading<\/a>\u00a0around oil price spikes due to the closure of the Strait of\u00a0Hormuz\u00a0amid the Iran war.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could have turned out badly, because had the Strait of\u00a0Hormuz\u00a0been shut immediately we would have been physically prevented from filling up our cargoes in the region,\u201d Pouyanne told Le Figaro,\u00a0referring to Total\u2019s big oil purchases in March.<\/p>\n

Pouyanne said that because Total is a vertically integrated company, it was able to leverage its assets to take delivery of the oil at the Fujairah terminal in the United Arab Emirates, located just outside the Gulf.<\/p>\n

(Reporting by America Hernandez in Paris; Editing by Makini Brice and Susan Fenton)<\/p>\n

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2026.<\/p>\n

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