TotalEnergies CEO says oil market needs three to four months to stabilise

Patrick Pouyanné, chief executive of TotalEnergies, told the Aix‑en‑Provence Economic Forum that the global oil market will likely require three to four months to normalise despite the partial reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. He explained that Gulf‑region producers built up large crude inventories while the strait was closed during the war with Iran and are now looking for tankers, but some ship owners remain reluctant to sail through the still‑tense passage.

The delayed shipments have created a shortage of refined products in major consumer markets, pushing the effective consumer price of a barrel to about €95‑100 even though Brent futures are trading just above $72. Pouyanné added that, in France, several nuclear reactors were taken offline because river‑water temperatures exceeded regulatory limits, forcing greater reliance on gas‑fired power plants and underscoring the need for all energy sources.