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Page added on October 20, 2014
“Anti-Petrodollar” CEO Of French Energy Giant Total Dies In Freak Plane Crash In Moscow
Three months ago, the CEO of Total, Christophe de Margerie, dared utter the phrase heard around the petrodollar world, “There is no reason to pay for oil in dollars,” as we noted here. Today, RT reports the dreadful news that he was killed in a business jet crash at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow after the aircraft hit a snow-plough on take-off. The airport issued a statement confirming “a criminal investigation has been opened into the violation of safety regulations,” adding that along with 3 crewmembers on the plane, the snow-plough driver was also killed.
De Margerie, 63, joined Total in 1974 after graduating from the École Supérieure de Commerce in Paris. He served in several positions in the Finance Department and Exploration & Production division. In 1995, he became President of Total Middle East before joining the Total’s Executive Committee as the President of the Exploration & Production division in May 1999. In May 2006, he was appointed a member of the Board of Directors. He was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Total on May 21, 2010.
According to preliminary data, the light aircraft collided with a snow-cleaning machine on takeoff, a source at the capital’s airport told RIA.
The aircraft was sending distress signals while still in the air and reporting an engine fire and fuselage damage, LifeNews reports. Upon crashing on the runway, the aircraft was engulfed in flames, reportedly killing everyone on board.
While initials reports suggested four people died in the tragedy, officials report that five bodies were found at the crash site, one allegedly being the driver of the snow-cleaning vehicle.
Vnukovo Airport has temporarily suspended all flights following the incident.
“A criminal investigation has been opened into the violation of safety regulations after a light aircraft crash in the capital’s Vnukovo airport,” transport official Tatyana Morozova told RIA.
An investigative group is working at the crash site, Morozova added. In addition to people who were on board the plane, she said, the driver snowplow was killed.
Debris from the aircraft was scattered up to 200 meters from the crash site, according to the rescue services. The engine was found some 50 meters from the crash site, while one of the landing gears was ripped off and discovered nearly 200 meters from the main mass of debris.
* * *
The plane he was aboard…
* * *
Of course this could merely be a desparately sad accident… aside from the coincidence of this so recently…
Christophe de Margerie, the CEO of Total (the world’s 13th biggest oil producer and Europe’s 2nd largest), believes “There is no reason to pay for oil in dollars.” Clearly, based onhis comments, that we have passed peak Petrodollar.
Oil major Total’s chief executive said on Saturday the euro should have a bigger role in international trade although it was not possible to do without the U.S. dollar.
Christophe de Margerie was responding to questions about calls by French policymakers to find ways at EU level to bolster the use of the euro in international business following a record U.S. fine for BNP.
…
“There is no reason to pay for oil in dollars,” he said. He said the fact that oil prices are quoted in dollars per barrel did not mean that payments actually had to be made in that currency.
So even a major beneficiary of the status quo appears to see the end in sight for the Petrodollar.
* * *
Furthermore, despite Western-imposed sanctions on Russia that prohibit western financing and technology transfer to some Russian energy projects, Total is continuing to pursue a natural gas project in Yamal, a joint venture with Russia’s Novatek and China’s CNPC.
“Can we live without Russian gas in Europe? The answer is no. Are there any reasons to live without it? I think – and I’m not defending the interests of Total in Russia – it is a no,” the Total boss told Reuters back in summer.
* * *
And of course, it had to happen in Russia!
23 Comments on "“Anti-Petrodollar” CEO Of French Energy Giant Total Dies In Freak Plane Crash In Moscow"
Makati1 on Mon, 20th Oct 2014 10:05 pm
Another ‘deep US government’ bot diving the snowplow? Maybe coincidence, but under the current circumstances, probably not. He did a dangerous thing as CEO of a major oil company. About like calling Hitler a Jew hater, to his face, in front of the world news cameras, prior to WW2. He was dead as of that moment and it could not be retracted.
Some say the Petrodollar will never be replaced. How about the Petroruble? Petroyuan? Petroeuro? Well, the last one probably not. The Euro is dying as we type, along with the EU, but the other two have a chance. The largest reserves of petroleum and the larges petroleum buyer are building pipelines and bridges. Interesting turn of events since 2000, don’t you think?
Plantagenet on Mon, 20th Oct 2014 10:23 pm
Before jumping to conclusions about conspiracies, lets just check to see what the blood alcohol content was in the Russian snow plow driver. Chances are he had a little too much vodka. Chances are this is nothing more than a particularly newsworthy drunk driving accident.
antiwarforever on Tue, 21st Oct 2014 6:20 am
Which powers are the beneficiaries of De Margerie’s death? the Western powers the USA Saudi Arabia and Qatar. maybe it wasn’t simply an “accident”…
Davy on Tue, 21st Oct 2014 7:07 am
Planter is definitely on to something. The den of thieves in DC have bigger fish to fry them a small fry oil exec. The petro dollar will diminish. It will end when BAU ends. The degree of change and the duration needed to change are not likely present to phase out the petro dollar completely. I fully welcome this diminishment. I welcome diminishment of the US dollar as a reserve component of international exchange. I see a smaller roll for the US in globalism as beneficial. Globalism has really only benefited the 1%ers. The so called benefits to Main Street have been the damaging excesses of capitalism. We see a culture hijacked by consumerism and digital delusions. We see decent jobs shipped overseas to poor Asians in sweat shops. The US would be far better off without cheap Asian plastic goods. We would be far better off with less. Less is coming so any global issues that lead to less is a positive. One prepares for old age by slowing down not doing more. The same thinking applies to descent. This is where the US will leap frog Asia. Asia is barreling along with both population growth and economic growth. These are dangerous conditions with BAU nearing the inflection point of descent.
JuanP on Tue, 21st Oct 2014 8:00 am
I am always amazed at how many US enemies have extremely convenient plane accidents after openly defying the USA and the dollar. As a rule I have never believed in coincidences. I still don’t
This is just like the Brazilian presidential candidate that died in another incredibly convenient to the USA airplane crash a couple of months. The CIA has done this so many times before it’s not funny.
It seems the fastest and easiest way to die for powerful and influential people is to publicly defy the role of the US dollar as international reserve and trade currency.
From today on, I will call this an all out war on humanity on the part of the US government, because this is what I see.
This is the drop that overflowed my glass where the US government is concerned. I’m done.
JuanP on Tue, 21st Oct 2014 8:05 am
Plant, I am certain that the plow driver will have alcohol on his blood. If he was put there asI think he was, he would have been filled with Vodka to make this look like an accident. This has been done before.
Davy on Tue, 21st Oct 2014 8:23 am
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-10-21/snow-plough-driver-total-ceo-plane-crash-was-drunk-investigators-say
Juan, I have the highest respect for you. I also believe you are definitely correct to assume the CIA is responsible for incidents that appear dubious. Will you admit to other intelligence services doing the same thing or is it primarily the CIA? I would see no reason why the Russians would admit to the above if there was any suspicion of being the CIA’s handy work.
noobtube on Tue, 21st Oct 2014 10:02 am
Hollywood is always making these movies showing how evil and despicable the CIA is and has always been.
They make the CIA look worse than any other agency in the world (except MI6 with James Bond).
If this were a movie, it would seem too ridiculous to be believed (maybe a spoof).
bobinget on Tue, 21st Oct 2014 10:16 am
The snowplow driver was said, by ‘investigators’
to be drunk. Russians, (or western investigators) are usually never this transparent this soon after a crash.
Some (BBC) reports have the snowplow driver alive. Perhaps, that sixth body in the aircraft was Female ‘crew’ member. Wealthy European men quite often travel with their ‘private secretaries’. It is after all, cold in Moscow.
Knowing Putin’s goals it’s possible he is sending a message. More then likely though, the accident was
just that. Either way, ambiguity serves Russia’s purpose.
Russia’s corrupt economy is not large enough for petro-rubles. Apart from weapons and oil they got nutting. In the coming climate crisis, Russia’s
geographic location, (increased farmland) is helpful
but lack of democracy will stymy progress till it’s too late.
Do yourself’s a favor. Count how many times past and future ‘commander zero hedge’ actually gets it right.
Feel free to count my outrageous predictions as well.
JuanP on Tue, 21st Oct 2014 10:18 am
Davy, While I have no idea what really happened, and this could be a coincidence. I have become a conspiracy theorist lately, because I perceive a very clear trend that I can’t ignore. This guy had been going around saying things powerful people have beeen getting killed for saying for some years now.
All parties are playing as hard as they can. Things are getting real rough. I am afraid that I have reached the conclusion in these past few months that we are headed towards major war. I think it is a sign of the times, but it was unnecessary and it makes me angry. We are choosing the worst possible way down, all out conflict
I am done criticizing the US government’s actions, I see no point in continuing doing this and I am tired of it. I will focus my comments on energy and social issues in the future. Politics are a waste of time.
.5mt on Tue, 21st Oct 2014 11:34 am
I see the hand of Jameis Winston in this matter.
Chris Hill on Tue, 21st Oct 2014 12:12 pm
Sometimes a sausage is just a sausage. Either way, if I remember right, this guy was one of the few oil execs who would admit to peak oil. He will be missed.
J-Gav on Tue, 21st Oct 2014 5:51 pm
Chris – He did admit to peak oil, going so far as to question the intelligence of people (and oily think-tanks) who saw us breezing past 100 million barrels a day of world production by now. We’re still stuck at what? Somewhere near 80.
However, he was also an insider in various roles in the company over the years (chief of middle-east policy being one) in some of the seamier affairs which tainted Total’s image some years back (EG they did lend their helicopters to African and Burmese dictators for military use against protesters; they did leave the victims in the lurch in the deadly Toulouse Grande Paroisse explosion etc).
Since those days, however, and after becoming CEO, he seems to have made a considerable effort to turn the company’s image around and appeared better to me than any of his predecessors. Within the company, he was very much appreciated by employees.
Concerning his death, I can’t say one way or another but I can’t help feeling surprised by the idea that a Russian ‘criminal negligence’ investigation would be set up to serve Western interests.
Makati1 on Tue, 21st Oct 2014 8:16 pm
Funny how Russia is always the bad guy in some Western eyes. Leftover brain conditioning from the Cold War? Or new brainwashing for Cold War Two? Or Both?
Northwest Resident on Tue, 21st Oct 2014 8:48 pm
Makati1 — It might have something to do with the fact that mafia organizations run most of the business in Russia. When I was in Russia off and on over a few year period working with and meeting Russian businessmen, it was a given that in order to do business in Russia you had to be associated with one of the local mafia groups. Except one company that owned a number of retail stores on Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg had his OWN small army of ex-military officers and special forces guys to protect his business interests. His mother was a very high officer in the communist party before it all fell apart, and through her connections and influence he managed to put together that business. But everybody else must have mafia. And they don’t use courts of law to settle business disputes there — they use knives, guns, baseball bats — that sort of thing. The mafia protection is actually traditional in Russia, going back to the days when peasants needed protection. Anyway, that might have something to do with the bad rap that Russians get sometimes, and probably does.
Makati1 on Wed, 22nd Oct 2014 12:53 am
NWR, how is that different from the US? They (the DC Mafia) run the government in the US and have for a long time. At least since WW2. Money buys anything in the US these days, including Presidents. Here the Mafia groups are called Republican and Democrat, but they are run by Al Capone wannabees who lust after power and wealth, not necessarily in that order. You can buy any legislation you want. Any Congressman. Those you cannot buy, you blackmail thru the NSA.
The Government has bought off the minorities and the middle class with “Bread & Circus”. (Welfare, Food Stamps, Unemployment Insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, etc. and 600 TV channels that spew propaganda 24/7/365.)
So, how are we different? We have the Carnegies, Mellons, Gates, Rockefellers, Waltons, and on and on. You don’t get billions legally or by honest work. You get it by buying laws, Senators, etc. By having armies of lawyers. By twisting the system in your favor with the use of anything you need to do it, including starting a war. The US supplied Germany in WW2 until they sunk the munitions laden Lusitania. Do some research on real American history.
No, the US is now the most corrupt country in the world, bar none.
Northwest Resident on Wed, 22nd Oct 2014 1:03 am
Nice rant, Makati1. Thanks for the lecture. I was just trying to answer the question, why are Russians so often seen as “bad guys” in some Western eyes. I didn’t mean to set you off.
Northwest Resident on Wed, 22nd Oct 2014 1:21 am
And Mak, how IS that different from the US? Here’s a little story.
One of my associates I was trying to find opportunities with was actually a PhD native of Cameroon, educated in Russian universities. One of his businesses was importing flavored vodka from France and wholesaling it to Russian kiosk groups. One day, a guy started showing up at the warehouse, brandishing a pistol, threatening to kill some people if they didn’t start paying him for protection. He wasn’t with any mafia group, just a guy trying to make a buck on his own the Russian way. After being turned away, there was a small fire at the warehouse one night which they managed to contain. Next day, the guy shows up again, making the same threats, demanding the same thing. Call the police? What for?! You gotta be kidding me. Instead, my friend told his mafia protection group about the issue and the guy was never seen again. I was told that he was dead.
So you tell me, Makati1, how is that different than in America?
Or how about the time I was at a wood working shop owner’s place, having some drinks, just hanging out and getting to be friends, his girlfriend nervously looking out the second floor window at night. Then she turned and said, he’s here. The owner told me (in Russian, which I spoke and understood good enough to get by at that time), that I was to say I am only a friend, to not talk business at all. A minute later in walks this big muscular looking gangster type with two hookers. He sits down, conversation ensues. At one point, he turns to me and informs me that he is Chechen but that nobody knows it because he is blond haired and blue eyed. He calmly tells me that his job is to kill people, and he opens his coat to show me his pistol. He says that he represents some mafia groups and please excuse him, he’s just here to check in on how business is going. My woodworking friend is very friendly, laughs at all the jokes, offers more booze. I don’t catch it all because they’re talking in Russian, fast. After a while the guy leaves and my friend and others in the room all breath a sigh of relief.
That same thing goes on in America, I suppose, but not like in Russia where that sort of thing happens all the time. Big difference.
I know you Mak. You always want to put the most negative light possible on America, you’re obsessed with how evil and corrupt America is, but you are not objective one single bit, or so it seems to me.
Makati1 on Wed, 22nd Oct 2014 6:16 am
NWR, objective? Where do you see a plus in the Police States of America? I don’t see any. It is a 3rd world country hiding behind the money printing press and a killer military with 800+ bases in most countries of the world. Hitler would be ecstatic with the situation the US has today. It is so much like his own plans that one has to wonder where the US plans originated. I think we got more from Nazi Germany than their scientists when the war was over. I think the upper elite got the domination bug also. Thew US was mostly an isolationist country before WW2. Just the opposite after.
Russia has it’s mafias. The US has the NSA, CIA, FBI and dozens of other alphabet security forces, many who have no idea what the other thousands are doing. Not to mention the biggest thieves in the world, the US IRS. There are over 52 different taxes in the US and the Federal ones follow you around the world, until you die. Then they hound your family.
No, I do not see any pluses in America any more. None. Just a bunch of brainwashed sheep being led to slaughter. If you see a REAL plus, point it out. Maybe I am missing something after 65 years of living there.
Makati1 on Wed, 22nd Oct 2014 6:24 am
NWR, BTW: have you read about the middle of the night raids by the new Gestapo, the police SWAT teams everywhere? Kicking in your door because someone said you were selling drugs or were a ‘terrorist’? No warrant, just destruction and terror. There is no Bill of Rights in the US. Obama Exec’ed them away. Constitution? That piece of paper is even more worthless, unless you have deep pockets and a team of good, expensive, connected lawyers.
You have to prove your innocence in the new USSA. You are now assumed guilty, until you prove otherwise. Ask the 2+ million we currently have incarcerated for a lot of ‘crimes’ that were considered legal not too long ago. Gotta keep those ‘for profit’ prisons filled! So, where do you see a REAL positive? I’m waiting…
Davy on Wed, 22nd Oct 2014 7:25 am
Geeze Mak, you got your clock cleaned by NR friggen back down while you still have some respect. You are so devoted to your hate and bad mouthing that you fully expose your hollow arguments in an act of trying to prove a point. We are big boys here we know what is going on in Russia and the US. NR spent time in Russia. We know how Russians do business. Their mafia’s are here in the US. You remind me of the kid on the playground that tries to argue away the fact his dad went to prison. He wants so much to believe his dad is a great person that he can’t accept reality.
Makati1 on Wed, 22nd Oct 2014 7:27 pm
Davy, you only know what the MSM tells you to know. I have some Russian friends here and, yes, Russia is NOT Eden, but then the US is not either. Go back a few years in the US and you have Al Capone and all of his wannabees doing the same thing.
Now they are in Washington wearing $5,000 suits and legally doing the same thing to you and I through legislation and money printing. Russia doesn’t pretend that it is legal. the USSA does.
Makati1 on Wed, 22nd Oct 2014 7:29 pm
Davy, you ‘big boys’ only have big egos … nothing else.