French banks disavow Total’s EACOP plans

French banks disavow Total’s EACOP plans

Three French banks have committed not to provide project financing for the Total-led East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).

BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Crédit Agricole will not participate, France's Les Echos newspaper reported.

“The project is too hard to defend,” Les Echos quoted an unnamed source as saying.

A statement from Reclaim Finance noted that Barclays, Credit Suisse and ANZ had also said they would steer clear of the EACOP plan.

The environmental NGO called on Natixis to follow suit.

BankTrack researcher Ryan Brightwell called on Standard Bank, SMBC and ICBC “to take these concerns seriously and withdraw their support”.

Total committed to the Lake Albert development, which includes EACOP, on April 11. However, it has not concluded talks on securing the expected $2.5 billion of financing thought to be required to build the world's longest heated pipeline.

Crédit Agricole has provided $7.3 billion of financing to Total between 2016 and 2020, while BNP Paribas provided nearly $6bn. The four French banks in total have provided more than $16bn to Total, it said.

Amundi, in which Crédit Agricole is the largest shareholder, is the second largest shareholder in Total after BlackRock.

Broader push

Reclaim Finance's founder Lucie Pinson welcomed the move, saying it was a “major blow for this