PARIS, Oct 30 - French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) , opens new tab reported a 2.4% drop in third-quarter earnings on Thursday, meeting expectations as higher upstream production and improving crude refining margins partially offset lower oil prices.

Adjusted net income slipped to $4.0 billion from the $4.1 billion for the same period last year, in line with an analysts' consensus compiled by LSEG.

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While oil prices in July-to-September dropped about 14% from the same quarter last year, European margins on refining fuels have soared more than 300% as the EU's ban on fuel imports made from Russian oil restricted supply just as diesel demand rose during the holiday driving season.

That pushed Total's downstream results $462 million higher than last year - helping to offset lower liquefied natural gas income caused by maintenance-related outages.

Total is under pressure from investors to lower its debts after buying assets worth more than $3 billion in the first half, and as oil prices look set to fall further in 2026. The company announced a cost-saving programme and reduced share buybacks beginning in the fourth quarter, though some asset sales meant to bring in cash have fallen through.

Third-quarter results have nudged the company's gearing, or debt-to-equity ratio, slightly down to 17.3%, from 17.9% in the second quarter of 2025.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/totalenergies-reports-slight-decrease-q3-income-lower-oil-prices-weigh-2025-10-30/