“Anti-Petrodollar”
CEO of French Energy Giant Total Dies in Freak Plane Crash in Moscow
20
October, 2014
Three
months ago, the CEO of Total, Christophe de Margerie, dared utter the
phrase heard around the petrodollar world, “There is no reason to
pay for oil in dollars,” as we noted here.
Today, RT
reports the
dreadful news that he was killed
in a business jet crash at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow after the
aircraft hit a snow-plough on take-off.
The airport issued a statement confirming “a criminal investigation
has been opened into the violation of safety regulations,” adding
that along with 3 crewmembers on the plane, the snow-plough driver
was also killed.
De
Margerie, 63, joined Total in 1974 after graduating from the École
Supérieure de Commerce in Paris. He served in several positions in
the Finance Department and Exploration & Production division. In
1995, he became President of Total Middle East before joining the
Total’s Executive Committee as the President of the Exploration &
Production division in May 1999. In May 2006, he was appointed a
member of the Board of Directors. He was appointed Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Total on May 21, 2010.
According
to preliminary data, the light
aircraft collided with a snow-cleaning machine on takeoff, a
source at the capital’s airport told RIA.
The
aircraft was sending distress signals while still in the air and
reporting an engine fire and fuselage damage, LifeNews reports. Upon
crashing on the runway, the aircraft was engulfed in flames,
reportedly killing everyone on board.
While
initials reports suggested four people died in the tragedy, officials
report that five bodies were found at the crash site, one allegedly
being the driver of the snow-cleaning vehicle.
Vnukovo
Airport has temporarily suspended all flights following the incident.
“A
criminal investigation has been opened into the violation of safety
regulations after
a light aircraft crash in the capital’s Vnukovo airport,”
transport official Tatyana Morozova told RIA.
An
investigative group is working at the crash site, Morozova added. In
addition to people who were on board the plane, she said, the driver
snowplow was killed.
Debris
from the aircraft was scattered up to 200 meters from the crash site,
according to the rescue services. The engine was found some 50 meters
from the crash site, while one of the landing gears was ripped off
and discovered nearly 200 meters from the main mass of debris.
*
* *
The
plane he was aboard…
* * *
Christophe
de Margerie, the CEO
of Total (the
world’s 13th biggest oil producer and
Europe’s 2nd largest), believes “There
is no reason to pay for oil in dollars.”
Clearly, based onhis comments, that we
have passed peak Petrodollar.
Oil
major Total’s chief executive said on Saturday the euro
should have a bigger role in international trade although it was not
possible to do without the U.S. dollar.
Christophe
de Margerie was responding to questions about calls by French
policymakers to find ways at EU level to bolster the use of the euro
in international business following a record U.S. fine for BNP.
…
“There
is no reason to pay for oil in dollars,” he
said. He said the fact
that oil prices are quoted in dollars per barrel did not mean that
payments actually had to be made in that currency.
So
even a major beneficiary of the status quo appears to see the end in
sight for the Petrodollar.
*
* *
Furthermore, despite
Western-imposed sanctions on Russia that prohibit western financing
and technology transfer to some Russian energy projects, Total is
continuing to pursue a natural gas project in Yamal, a joint venture
with Russia’s Novatek and China’s CNPC.
“Can
we live without Russian gas in Europe? The answer is no. Are there
any reasons to live without it? I think – and I’m not defending
the interests of Total in Russia – it is a no,” the Total boss
told Reuters back in summer.
*
* *
And
of course, it had to happen in Russia!
During
the taxiing before take-off, at around 0:10 am Moscow time on
Tuesday, the light aircraft hit a snow-clearing machine, the head of
Vnukovo’s press service, Elena Krylova, told the media.
“A
Falcon airplane that was en route from Moscow to Paris collided with
a snowplow while the jet was preparing to take off. The plane caught
fire after the collision and all the people onboard – including a
passenger and three crew members – died,” Krylova said.
The
aircraft did not leave the ground after hitting the vehicle, she
added, refuting earlier reports that the plane did eventually take
off but then the pilot made a decision to turn back and land. The
investigators have already found the aircraft’s black boxes while
the airport staff were writing explanatory reports, she added.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.