Louise Tricoire, appointed as Vice President of TotalEnergies Marine Fuels in September, has made it her raison d’être to support decarbonisation of the shipping sector – including maritime operations of French parent firm TotalEnergies – learns Manifold Times.

The Singapore bunkering publication caught up with Tricoire on the side lines of the 22nd edition of Singapore International Bunkering Conference, also known as SIBCON 2022, to understand her motivations.

“I started my career at TotalEnergies 20 years ago, 15 of which were spent in management roles leading sales and operations, development or M&A, in the marketing downstream branch of the company covering retail stations, fuels & lubricants distribution segments,” she shares.

“Then, I spent two years within the company’s LNG business unit negotiating the two first deals we made with our partner Adani in India, around LNG marketing and regasification facilities. It was when knowledge of LNG contracts, production, trading routes and mechanisms was acquired.

“In the last three years, I was focused on decarbonising TotalEnergies’ operations and led a central team to find and deploy solutions for reducing GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions across all upstream and downstream activities, including for oil, gas, fuels & lubricant and shipping.”

Tricoire, now with a firm foundation of what decarbonisation means and the solutions necessary to get there, believes TotalEnergies Marine Fuels is ready to help the shipping sector meet International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s 2030 and 2050 targets.

“The global shipping industry is on a collective journey towards decarbonisation and I am delighted to be entering the sector at such a crucial phase in this transition. I am looking forward to seeing the strides we will continue to advance in supporting our customers and the wider shipping community,” she says. 

“Further, I also know very well the internal world of TotalEnergies and our ambitions are high in terms of becoming a major player in the production of decarbonized energies such as renewable power, green H2 or e-fuels. That helps a lot when we want to develop new businesses; where you need to know how to navigate in this environment and which internal partners to engage.

 “Arriving here [in this new role at Singapore], there is definitely more to learn about the marine fuels industry, especially in this dynamic ecosystem. Fortunately, I am supported by a very good team that is highly experienced and knows the industry very well..”

Decarbonisation of TotalEnergies’ Bunker Fuels Portfolio

Tricoire was keen to explain that TotalEnergies – which itself currently charters nearly 60 vessels – understands the challenges shipowners face towards IMO 2030/2050.

“The experience of chartering a fleet of this size has given us expertise about the different ways to reduce a vessel’s carbon footprint. We have deep knowledge internally about what the shipping industry needs and how we can help to decarbonise it,” she notes.

In an effort to support shipping industry sustainability, Tricoire informs TotalEnergies Marine Fuels has stopped selling High Sulphur Fuel Oil (HSFO) worldwide since IMO 2020. To date, the firm only maintains marine gas oil (MGO) and Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) inventories within its fossil oil based products portfolio.

For the immediate term, TotalEnergies Marine Fuels is already offering two solutions to help its shipping customers reduce GHG emissions – including the provision of biofuels from 2023 which she announced at SIBCON.

“First of all, we are offering B24 to B30 biofuels as a drop-in solution which will reduce around 20-25% GHG emissions of a ship. We offer this at Singapore port from 1 January 2023 where we will have a supply chain based on UCOME (Used Cooking Oil Methyl Ester) blended with VLSFO. Biofuels is something which we are also developing in Europe, especially in France, and ARA,” states Tricoire.

 “Secondly, we offer LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) which is a product we know very well in terms of operations and safety. Over the past two years, we have conducted 120 safe bunkering operations in Europe via the Gas Agility at Rotterdam and the Gas Vitality at Marseille. By Q1 2023, we will also have the Brassavola delivering LNG to receiving vessels at the Port of Singapore. LNG delivers measurable emissions reductions benefit as a marine fuel, allowing for up to 23% reduction of GHG emissions.

“Further, we are also able to incorporate biogas in our European LNG bunkers with the help of TotalEnergies’ dedicated internal Biogas business unit and are studying the same in Singapore for the future.”

For the longer term, Tricoire states TotalEnergies Marine Fuels is currently investigating new decarbonisation solutions for shipping via, amongst other, participation in the Methanol Institute, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping and a joint study with Itochu.

“In TotalEnergies, we already have projects along the e-Fuel value chain, from green electricity and green / blue hydrogen to e-Fuel production that will be integrated along the marine fuels value chain in time to come,” she reveals.

 “The first batch of e-Fuels will most probably be integrated into the bunkering value chain around green shipping corridors. Our strong positions in in many parts of the world will help us bring decarbonized bunker fuels close to these corridors.”

Photo credit: TotalEnergies Marine Fuels
Published: 6 December, 2022