Christophe De Margerie

Mr. de Margerie, 63, led the fourth-largest of the Western multinational major oil companies by market capitalization, after Exxon, Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron, and the second-largest company in France after the drug maker Sanofi. A member of one of the most prominent families in France, Mr. Margerie was a grandson of the founder of the Taittinger Champagne house and the latest in a long line of ambassadors and business leaders. Mr. de Margerie started with the company in 1974 and rose from positions in the finance and exploration divisions. He was a close associate of Thierry Desmarest, who built Total into a giant through a series of mergers culminating with the takeover of Elf Aquitaine in 2000. After becoming chief executive in 2007, Mr. de Margerie helped consolidate the merger. And he broadened Total’s base, expanding into Russia and the oil sands in Canada. He was also on good terms with Saudi oil figures and recently scored a coup by building a large refinery in the country, OPEC’s leading producer. In the business world, Mr. de Margerie had gained attention for his public opposition to the sanctions applied by the United States and Europe. Total is a minority owner of a Russian oil field, the Kharyaga field, and an investor in the Russian natural gas company Novatek, the second-largest gas producer in Russia after Gazprom. Total produced 179,000 barrels of oil and the equivalent in natural gas in Russia in 2012.