Total names new CEO after deadly plane crash

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Patrick Pouyanné is the new CEO and president of France-based Total SA.

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Jordan Blum

Reporter- Houston Business Journal

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France-based Total SA (NYSE: TOT) wasted little time in naming a new CEO on Oct. 22 after the stunning death of the energy giant's leader in a Moscow plane crash.

Total quickly named Patrick Pouyanné as the new CEO and president of the Executive Committee. Pouyanné, who was already considered a top successor choice, had been president of refining and chemicals for Total.

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Total Chairman and CEO Christophe de Margerie, who led the company for seven years, died along with three crew members just after 10 p.m. Paris time on Oct. 20 when the plane crashed into a snowplow upon takeoff.

The company has invested heavily in geopolitically risky Russian oil production.

Total also named former CEO Thierry Desmarest as its new chairman. The company said the plan is to, in a year or so, recombine the chairman and CEO roles once again after Desmarest assists with the transition.

Total has a major Houston presence with seven of its nine U.S. subsidiaries based out of Houston, including Total Petrochemicals USA Inc., which anchors the Total Plaza downtown.

Total, which has a nearly $130 billion market value, is the fourth-largest public oil company after Irving-based Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDS-A) and California-based Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), which all have significant presences in Houston.

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Jordan Blum covers energy for the Houston Business Journal. Read the top Texas energy news in our free weekly newsletter, Energy Inc. Click here to subscribe to the Energy Inc. newsletter.