TotalEnergies has signed settlement agreements with the United States 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 United States.
Under the terms of the settlement, TotalEnergies will recover the lease fees paid and will invest an equal amount in the development of U.S. gas and power production and exports.
The DOI said TotalEnergies committed to invest approximately $1bln – the value of its renounced offshore wind leases – in oil and natural gas and LNG production in the United States. Following their new investment, the United States said they will reimburse the company ‘dollar-for-dollar’ up to the amount they paid in lease purchases for offshore wind.
“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 Patrick Pouyanné, chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of TotalEnergies.
Pouyanné welcomed the deal saying these agreements, under which TotalEnergies will reinvest the refunded lease fees to finance the construction of the 29 Mt Rio Grande LNG plant and the development of the oil and gas activities, allows the company to support the development of U.S. gas production and export.
“These investments will contribute to supplying Europe with much-needed LNG from the U.S. and provide gas for U.S. data center development. We believe this is a more efficient use of capital in the United States,” he said.
According to a TotalEnergies statement, the company has also signed a letter of intent with Glenfarne, the lead developer of the Alaska LNG project, for the long-term offtake of two million tons per year of liquefied natural gas over 20 years, subject to the project’s final investment decision.
TotalEnergies, a major exporter of U.S. LNG
TotalEnergies is deploying its integrated energy model across the United States, where it has been active since 1957.
Since 2022, TotalEnergies has invested nearly $12bln in the U.S. to accelerate development in oil, LNG, and electricity.
TotalEnergies is integrated throughout the LNG value chain, with upstream gas production assets in Texas and offshore U.S.
With 19 million tons exported in 2025, TotalEnergies is a major exporter of U.S. LNG. The U.S. is also a key country for the deployment of TotalEnergies’ Integrated Power strategy with 10 GW of installed power capacity.
