ATLANTA, GEORGIA (By Chad Archey, Energy Analytics Institute, 23.Mar.2026, Words: 380) — TotalEnergies signed settlement agreements with the US Department of the Interior (DOI) to relinquish its Carolina Long Bay lease (Lease OCS-A 0545) and its New York Bight lease (Lease OCS-A 0538), both awarded in 2022, along with its partners.
As a result, TotalEnergies will no longer develop offshore wind projects in the US.
Under the terms of the settlement, TotalEnergies will recover the lease fees paid and will invest an equal amount in the development of US Gas & Power production and exports.
TotalEnergies’ studies on these leases have shown that offshore wind developments in the US, unlike those in Europe, are costly and might have a negative impact on power affordability for US consumers, the French company announced on 23 Mar. 2026 in an official statement.
Since other technologies are available to meet the growing demand for electricity in the US in a more affordable way, TotalEnergies considers there is no need to allocate capital to this technology in the US.
“TotalEnergies is pleased to sign these settlement agreements with the DOI and to support the Administration’s Energy Policy. Considering that the development of offshore wind projects is not in the country’s interest, we have decided to renounce offshore wind development in the United States, in exchange for the reimbursement of the lease fees,” said TotalEnergies chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer Patrick Pouyanné.
“Furthermore, these agreements, under which we will reinvest the refunded lease fees to finance the construction of the 29 Mt Rio Grande LNG plant and the development of our oil and gas activities, allows us to support the development of US gas production and export. These investments will contribute to supplying Europe with much-needed LNG from the US and provide gas for US data center development. We believe this is a more efficient use of capital in the United States,” Pouyanné said.
TotalEnergies has also signed recently a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Glenfarne, lead developer of the Alaska LNG project, for the long-term offtake of 2 million tons per year (MTPA) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) over 20 years, subject to the project’s final investment decision (FID).
____________________
By Chad Archey reporting from Atlanta. © 1999-2026 Energy Analytics Institute (EAI). All Rights Reserved.
