TotalEnergies wins multi-billion dollar loan from US government thanks to sustained PR campaign

• United States

• Primus Responsum
• Ballard Partners

• TotalEnergies

Since 2024, French oil major TotalEnergies has retained US-based lobbying agencies Primus Responsum and Ballard Partners to secure billions of dollars in government financing for its  Mozambique LNG operations. In March 2021, an Islamist militant attack on Palma, produced over 800 fatalities. A month later, TotalEnergies officially halted the nearby LNG project.

In December 2024, TotalEnergies retained Primus Responsum to lobby the outgoing Biden administration for a  $4.7 billion loan to finance the project’s restart, including a $250,000 success fee, payable on approval. The Biden administration did not act on the request.

Following Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, TotalEnergies hired Ballard Partners, a firm closely connected to key figures in the Trump administration including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, for $770,000. Days after Trump’s inauguration, the US Export-Import Bank, announced it would review TotalEnergies’ loan request. Nearly two months later, the loan was approved.

In November 2025 the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights filed a complaint with French prosecutors accusing TotalEnergies of complicity in war crimes carried out by the Joint Task Force which included the Mozambican armed forces. TotalEnergies denied knowledge and responsibility.

With the $4.7 billion in US government financing secured through lobbying by Primus Responsum and Ballard Partners, TotalEnergies fully restarted Mozambique LNG operations in January 2026.