3.4) Asset impairment
Impairments relate to certain cash-generating units (CGUs) for which indicators of impairment have been identified, due to changes in operating conditions or the economic environment of the activities concerned.
For the calculation of impairment tests of its assets, TOTAL set in 2019 a price scenario with a 2050 Brent price of 50$/b, in line with the “well below 2°C” 2019 scenario of the IEA. This scenario is described in the Universal Registration Document (note 3 of chapter 8).
Given the drop of the oil price in 2020, TOTAL decided to revise the price assumptions over the next years and selected the following profile of the Brent price: 35$/b in 2020, 40$/b in 2021, 50$/b in 2022, 60$/b in 2023; gas prices have been adjusted accordingly.
For the longer term, TOTAL maintains its analysis, that the weakness of investments in the hydrocarbon sector since 2015 accentuated by the health and economic crisis of 2020 will result by 2025 in insufficient worldwide production capacities and a rebound in prices. Beyond 2030, given technological developments, particularly in the transport sector, TOTAL anticipates oil demand will have reached its peak and Brent prices should tend toward the long-term price of 50$/b, in line with the 2019 IEA’s SDS scenario.
The average Brent prices over the period 2020-2050 thus stands at 56.8$2020/b.
The future operational costs were determined by taking into account the existing technologies, the fluctuation of prices for petroleum services in line with market developments and the internal cost reduction programs effectively implemented.
The future cash flows are estimated over a period consistent with the life of the assets of the CGUs. They are prepared post-tax and take into account specific risks related to the CGUs’ assets. They are discounted using a 7% post-tax discount rate, this rate being the weighted-average cost of capital estimated from historical market data.
The CGUs of the Exploration & Production segment are defined as oil and gas fields or groups of oil and gas fields with industrial assets enabling the production, treatment and evacuation of the oil and gas. For the first nine months of 2020, impairments of assets were recognized over CGUs of the Exploration & Production segment for an impact of $(1,878) million in operating income and $(1,798) million in net income, Group share. Impairments recognized in 2020 mainly relate to Canadian oil sands assets.
The CGUs of the Integrated Gas, Renewables & Power segment are subsidiaries or groups of subsidiaries organized by activity or geographical area, and by fields or groups of fields for upstream LNG activities. For the first nine months of 2020, the Group recorded impairments on CGUs in the Integrated Gas, Renewables & Power segment for $(953) million in operating income and $(829) million in net income, Group share. Impairments recognized in 2020 relate to assets located in Australia.
The CGUs of the Refining & Chemicals segment are defined as legal entities with operational activities for refining and petrochemicals activities. For the first nine months of 2020, the Group recorded impairments on CGUs of the Refining & Chemicals segment in France and in the United Kingdom for $(290) million in operating income and $(291) million in net income, Group share.
The CGUs of the Marketing & Services segment are subsidiaries or groups of subsidiaries organized by geographical area. No significant impairment has been recorded for the CGUs of the Marketing & Services segment in the first nine months of 2020.
In addition, in line with its new Climate Ambition announced on May 5, 2020, which aims at carbon neutrality, TOTAL has reviewed its oil assets that can be qualified as stranded, meaning with reserves beyond 20 years and high production costs, whose overall reserves may therefore not be produced by 2050. The only projects identified in this category are the Canadian oil sands projects of Fort Hills and Surmont.
For impairment calculations, TOTAL has decided to take into account only proven reserves on these two assets – unlike general practice which considers so-called proven and probable reserves. This leads to an additional exceptional asset impairment of $(5,460) million in operating income and $(5,474) million in net income, Group share.
Overall, asset impairments were recorded on the nine first months 2020, for an amount of $(8,581) million in operating income and $(8,394) million in net income, Group share, including $(6,988) million on Canadian oil sands assets alone.
These impairments were qualified as adjustment items of the operating income and net income, Group share.
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