TotalEnergies towards the energy transition

On the occasion of Autopromotec we met Marco Pannunzio, CEO of TotalEnergies Marketing Italia, to talk about the Company’s strategies in view of the energy transition. Pannunzio, who has been in the oil sector for 37 years, has always worked within the same group, covering different roles: in 2005 he was Retail Manager of Total UK, in 2008 he distinguished himself as Director of Fuels of Total Italy and in 2010 as TotalErg Specialty Director. Also in 2010 he was President and CEO of Totalgaz and Bitumtec, as well as Vice President of Assogasliquidigpl in Italy. In 2013 he then joined, as CEO, the Total team in the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary and in 2016, again as CEO, in Total Romania, bringing the Romanian branch to a leadership position in sales of lubricants.

Among the products presented in this edition, the innovative line of Quartz lubricants dedicated to light vehicles, which meets the specifications of many manufacturers. A solution was also presented relating to the installation of electric charging columns. The development of solutions related to new mobility is at the heart of the partnership with Stellantis, which will use the network of charging stations managed by TotalEnergies for its car sharing activity in Paris and is working alongside the Company both in the development of batteries and in the test hydrogen-powered racing prototypes. This important partnership was also proposed on the TotalEnergies stand which, for the occasion, hosted a full electric Citroën Ami minicar.

Great visibility was given, in this edition of Autopromotec, to the services that TotalEnergies offers to workshops: “In addition to product supply and widespread distribution, we try to offer branding and the possibility of training through our TotalEnergies Academy, where we offer courses and certifications to be able to operate also on electric cars”, explains Marco Pannunzio.

Let’s start with your core business, lubricants.

Pannunzio: Currently in lubricants we are focusing on the specialty sector, because we have a good know-how and we can provide customers with added value, the technology that is studied in our Research & Development center in Lyon, which is our flagship. Since September, all technical and research activities have been brought together internationally in a sector called OneTech, which aims to create synergies in the development of our activities.

In Italy we are studying and trying to develop the world of new energies: new generation fuels, lubricating products. The Italian market has suffered a lot in recent years and is still suffering from the lack of raw materials, a problem that also afflicts many of our competitors. Despite this, we have suffered less than others because we have a stable local organization that manages to optimize distribution. TotalEnergies has proximity in its soul, a factor that many of our competitors have overlooked. The effort to maintain this organization is considerable from an economic point of view, but this is where we act to provide additional service to customers, both directly and through distributors.

What solutions are you focusing on in view of the energy transition? 

We know that today there is still a lot of confusion about what the fate of mobility will be, as we know that several car manufacturers have not signed the Glasgow agreement. To date, our research on electric vehicle fluids is at the highest level, but I believe no one can predict what will happen five years from now. We know for sure that electric vehicles (light and heavy) will grow especially on short distances, and we are preparing for possible evolutions, but our task is to keep all the attention on the traditional and on the hybrid. Our Company is investing heavily in the energy transition, an issue on which we have been working for over a decade (here we talked about sustainable packaging, editor’s note). Between now and 2050, the oil sector will represent only 20 percent of the turnover. We will grow a lot in alternative energies, such as wind, solar, LNG, but we will have to gradually accompany the customer in this step. Let’s not forget that the current geopolitical crisis has generated great doubts, for example on LNG, on which many carriers were orienting themselves before the exponential increase in prices. We must not choose a single path and pursue it at all costs, but monitor all the ways to accompany the customer.