United States: TotalEnergies receives $1 billion to pivot from wind to hydrocarbons.

AI-generated illustration, for illustrative purposes.

Donald Trump’s US administration has reached a historic agreement with TotalEnergies: the government will reimburse the French major $928 million in exchange for abandoning its US offshore wind projects and committing to reinvest the amount in oil, natural gas and LNG production projects.

The agreement was announced on March 23, 2026 in Houston at the CERAWeek conference by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné. It concerns two major offshore wind projects acquired under the Biden administration: Attentive Energy, with 3 GW off New York and New Jersey, and Carolina Long Bay, with 1.2 GW off North Carolina.

Under the agreement, the Department of the Interior will cancel the offshore leases and the Department of Justice will reimburse TotalEnergies the exact amount of its initial bids, $928 million. In return, TotalEnergies commits to developing no new offshore wind projects in the United States and to reinvesting an equivalent amount in:

• construction of Trains 1 to 4 at the Rio Grande LNG plant in Texas,
• development of oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico,
• as well as shale gas projects.

Patrick Pouyanné said: “Considering that developing offshore wind projects is not in the country’s interest, we have decided to relinquish offshore wind in the United States in exchange for reimbursement of lease fees.”

Doug Burgum hailed a “new success” that frees nearly $1 billion previously “locked up in ideological subsidies” for an offshore wind industry described as “expensive and unreliable.” The agreement forms part of the Trump administration’s “Energy Dominance” strategy, which prioritizes fossil fuels.

The announcement prompted strong negative reactions from environmental advocates. Public Citizen denounced “a waste of taxpayers’ money” intended to prevent private investment in renewable energy.

With the agreement, TotalEnergies, already a major participant in US LNG, strengthens its US hydrocarbon position while permanently withdrawing from American offshore wind. It illustrates the Trump administration’s prioritization of fossil energy production amid geopolitical tensions and pressure on energy prices.

Observers are questioning the long-term consequences of this policy for US climate objectives and the country’s appeal for renewable energy investment.