TotalEnergies has entered into a 50/50 joint venture with Bahrain’s national energy company, Bapco Energies, to form BxT Trading, a new downstream trading platform for petroleum products in the Middle East. Backed by crude and refined product flows from Bapco’s Sitra refinery—one of the region’s largest with a capacity of 267,000 barrels per day—BxT Trading will leverage TotalEnergies’ global trading hubs in Houston, Geneva and Singapore. The joint venture is designed to enhance pricing analysis, risk management and market access, with an initial footprint covering fuel grades, LPG and naphtha. Patrick Pouyanné, TotalEnergies’ Chairman and CEO, emphasized that the new entity will bring local responsiveness while tapping into the group’s existing network that handles over 10 million barrels of hydrocarbons daily worldwide.

In a parallel strategic move, TotalEnergies has agreed to sell its 10% interest in the Nigeria Renaissance Joint Venture licenses to Vaaris Holdings, a local oil and gas investment firm, for an undisclosed amount. While the transaction reduces TotalEnergies’ direct exposure to deepwater upstream operations in the Gulf of Guinea, it retains an economic interest in the gas-focused assets underpinning the venture’s three offshore blocks. The deal is expected to generate immediate free cash flow of approximately $200 million, which the company intends to redeploy into lower-carbon projects, including its ongoing development of a 50 kilotons per year low-carbon hydrogen facility in Denmark.

These two transactions underscore TotalEnergies’ pivot toward optimizing its asset portfolio by reinforcing trading capabilities in growth markets and reallocating capital from high-risk exploration to lower-carbon and mid-stream segments. By deepening its Middle East trading presence through BxT, the company anticipates a 15% uplift in regional trading volumes over the next 12 months. Meanwhile, the Nigerian divestment aligns with management’s goal of reducing upstream portfolio exposure from 40% to 35% of total group EBITDA by 2025. Equity analysts note that the freed-up cash and enhanced trading margins could contribute to a 3% boost in adjusted operating cash flow in the current fiscal year.