French oil major TotalEnergies plans to boost liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacity and increase investments as part of its strategy for a possible future that excludes Russian operations.

At an investor presentation in New York, TotalEnergies outlined a series of business targets for the next five years, but excluded its interests in Russian assets.

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne was cited by Reuters as saying: “There is no future with Russia in this presentation. Less Russia, more Qatar and more US.”

Amid efforts by European nations to find alternative sources to Russian gas, TotalEnergies intends to grow LNG sales by 3% a year through to 2027 and boost LNG production by 40% to 2030, starting from 2021.

In the next five years, the French firm anticipates cash flow to increase by $4bn, compared with a previous target of a $5bn rise between 2021 and 2026.

Pouyanne said: “Keeping five billion without Russia and without Canada would have been a challenge.”

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TotalEnergies is also considering spinning off its oil sand business in Canada.

The spin-off would include the firm’s 50% stake in the ConocoPhillips-operated Surmont thermal project and a 24.58% interest in Suncor Energy‘s Fort Hills oil sands mining project in Alberta, in addition to midstream and trading-related activities, reported Reuters.

Capital expenditure is also planned to be increased from $13-16bn to $14-18bn a year through to 2025. These investments would target LNG capacity, wind and solar energy, and energy savings.

The company is also planning to maintain a share buy-back programme worth $7bn for this year and offer a special interim dividend of €1 per share in December 2022.

TotalEnergies does not plan to invest in new projects in Russia but intends to phase out Russian oil purchases by the end of this year.

Pouyanne said that the firm would continue with its existing contracts in Russia as long as the latter’s gas is not targeted by Western sanctions.