Christophe de Margerie, CEO of French oil giant Total, died in a plane crash in Moscow late Monday at the age of 63. Via Bloomberg, de Margerie’s private jet struck a snowplow in low visibility at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, killing him and three crewmembers.
De Margerie began his 40-year career at Total in the company’s finance department. As CEO he steered the company into British and Russian shale exploration, West African oil drilling, South Pacific natural gas and Canadian oil sands.
De Margerie was also a proponent of investing in clean energy as a complement to fossil fuels. He told an audience at the IHS Energy CERAWeek event in March oil and gas resources and renewables would eventually coexist in the marketplace.
Total is the world’s fourth-largest non-state energy company by market value. Its U.S. refining and petrochemical operations include a refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, an HDPE plant in Bayport, Texas, a polypropylene plant in LaPorte, Texas, and a styrenics complex in Carville, La.
Total said in a statement its government and ethics committee would meet as soon as possible, followed by a meeting of its board of directors.
