TotalEnergies Weighs Drilling Decisions After 2025 Deal Covering 40 U.S. Offshore Leases
Key Facts
The details of a new TotalEnergies-Chevron deal that the draft says covers 26 offshore exploration leases and two counterpart leases could not be corroborated from the available open sources. The Business Wire statement page could not be opened, and no matching official statement appeared on TotalEnergies' website, according to the verification record accompanying the article. The ownership stakes attributed to the two companies, the asset locations and the deal's stated purpose therefore cannot be confirmed. The available record does not establish that the new deal was signed on the terms set out in the draft. The documented background dates to a separate announcement on June 16, 2025, when TotalEnergies said it had acquired from Chevron a 25% working interest in a portfolio of 40 offshore exploration leases in U.S. waters.
The 2025 portfolio included leases on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, according to a TotalEnergies statement dated June 16 that year. The 40 leases comprised 13 blocks in Walker Ridge, 9 blocks in Mississippi Canyon and 18 blocks in East Breaks. These figures define the scope and locations of the earlier deal, but do not describe the assets cited in the draft's account of the new deal. The company said the leases covered a total area of about 1,000 square kilometers. The sites are between 175 and 330 kilometers from the coast, according to the statement.
On the next step for that earlier portfolio, TotalEnergies' senior vice president of exploration said the company expected to mature drilling decisions on the blocks using advanced 3D imaging technology. The statement links the next drilling decision to the evaluation of the blocks using that technology, but does not specify when a decision will be made. It also gives no timetable for drilling wells or starting production. The plans relate to the exploration leases the company announced in 2025. This step cannot be attributed to the 26-lease deal cited in the draft without an accessible statement confirming its details.
TotalEnergies already works with Chevron in producing offshore assets in the U.S. Gulf, according to the company's U.S. activities page. The page says TotalEnergies holds interests in four offshore assets operated by Chevron: Jack, Tahiti, Anchor and Ballymore. In April 2025, TotalEnergies announced the start of production at the Ballymore field in the deep waters of the U.S. Gulf. The company holds a 40% interest in the field, compared with Chevron's 60% as operator. These assets provide documented context for the existing partnership, but do not establish the characterization or terms of the new deal.
In trading, TotalEnergies shares closed at $92.35 on October 27, 2026, according to EL7 data. Chevron shares closed at $228.23 on the same day, according to the same source. The two figures are closing prices for that date; the data provided do not compare them with a previous session or measure changes in either stock. The prices also do not establish a market response to the deal details cited in the draft. Those details still require an accessible, verifiable statement before they can be attributed to the companies.