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Total's CEO Christophe de Margerie dies in Moscow plane crash | Total's CEO Christophe de Margerie dies in Moscow plane crash |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Christophe de Margerie, the chief executive of French oil company Total, has died in an air crash in Moscow. | Christophe de Margerie, the chief executive of French oil company Total, has died in an air crash in Moscow. |
His corporate jet collided with a snow plough and then was engulfed in flames. All four people on board were killed. | |
The driver of the snow plough was drunk, according to Russian investigators. | |
Mr de Margerie, 63, had been chief executive of Europe's third largest oil company since 2007. He was highly regarded within the oil industry. | |
'Huge loss' | |
Mr de Margerie joined Total Group after graduating from the Ecole Superieure de Commerce in Paris in 1974. | |
"France is losing an extraordinary business leader who turned Total into a world giant," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said in a statement. | |
"France is losing a great industry captain and a patriot." | |
At the company, where he had spent his entire career, he was nicknamed "Big Moustache". | |
John Hofmeister, former president of Shell Oil, told the BBC: "It's a huge loss to the industry and its future focus. | |
"What he has done for Total in repositioning the company to return to integrity and sound operations is deeply respected and highly regarded." | |
It is thought Mr de Margerie had been attending a meeting of foreign investors with the Russian Prime Minister. | |
Russian investments | |
Total is an important player in the Russian energy market and Mr de Margerie was a staunch defender of maintaining ties, despite Western sanctions against Moscow over its actions in Ukraine. | |
Total is one of the biggest foreign investors in Russia and is planning to double its output from the country by 2020. | |
It is working on the Yamal project, a $27bn joint venture to extract natural gas in northwest Siberia. | |
During his time at the helm of Total Mr de Margerie successfully defended the company against allegations of corruption around the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq. | |
He maintained the company's investments in Burma and Iran despite US sanctions against those countries. | |
Mr de Margerie's jet had been due to fly to Paris from Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport. | |
Vnukovo, is located to the southwest of Moscow and is used by President Vladimir Putin and other government officials. | |
Russia's emergencies ministry said in a statement the accident had involved a Falcon-50 plane shortly before midnight local time (20:00 GMT) on Monday. | Russia's emergencies ministry said in a statement the accident had involved a Falcon-50 plane shortly before midnight local time (20:00 GMT) on Monday. |
"At the moment, it is already established that the driver of the snow plough was in a condition of alcoholic intoxication," said Russia's Investigative Committee, a federal agency which answers to President Vladimir Putin. | |
Reports say the visibility at airport was 350m (1,150ft). | Reports say the visibility at airport was 350m (1,150ft). |
An investigation is now under way. | An investigation is now under way. |