Total Goes on Mideast Oil-Buying Spree, Adding to Market Turmoil

The trading arm of French oil major TotalEnergies SE embarked on one of the biggest-ever buying sprees of Middle Eastern oil this month, helping to send prices soaring in a market already facing a liquidity squeeze because of the war.

So far in March, Total has purchased 69 cargoes of crude that sets the Middle East’s Dubai benchmark, according to traders monitoring the pricing window operated by Platts, a unit of S&P Global Energy. By comparison, a total of 347 Dubai cargoes changed hands during the whole of 2025.