Joe Carroll, James Paton and Nidaa Bakhsh Chicago and Sydney
TOTAL’S chief executive Christophe de Margerie died late on Monday when his airplane struck a snow plough on a Moscow runway, ending a career in which he oversaw the biggest expansion of oil reserves at the French company in at least 15 years.
The 63-year-old chief executive, who had been attending a summit of foreign investors in Russia, was returning to Paris when his private jet crashed in poor visibility while taking off from Vnukovo airport just before midnight. Three crew members were also killed.
During a 40-year career that began in Total’s finance unit, he oversaw operations for the petroleum giant from Indonesia to the Middle East to Kazakhstan. Earlier this year he helped negotiate the company’s entry into Russian shale under a Siberian drilling venture with Lukoil; the company is also a partner in the Russian gas development.
“He provided extraordinary leadership for Total, and had deep understanding of the Middle East,” said Daniel Yergin, vice-chairman of IHS and a foremost historian of the industry. “He was very much a man who thought about what was going to happen down the road. He was a man of great vitality and charm, a statesman who would speak his mind, though with verve and humour.”
De Margerie’s plane, a Dassault Aviation SA Falcon, struck an airport vehicle, caught fire and dropped back down on the runway, according to a statement from Russia’s Investigative Committee. It accused the driver of the plough of being drunk, an accusation the man’s lawyer denied.
After dipping in early trading, Total shares gained 2.5 percent, tracking a broad gain in European equities. The stock traded up 2 percent at E43.80 (R618.141) at 1.02pm local time.
The board would meet as soon as possible to discuss the appointment of a new chief executive, chief administrative official Jean-Jacques Guilbaud told reporters at the company’s headquarters in Paris. – Bloomberg