PARIS, March 20 (Reuters) - The board of French oil and gasmajor Total has proposed total 2018 compensation forChief Executive Patrick Pouyanne of 3.1 million euros ($3.55million), compared with 3.8 million in 2017, company documentsshowed on Wednesday.
The total pay includes 1.4 million euros in fixedcompensation, the same as in 2017, and 1.72 million in annualvariable compensation, compared with 2.4 million in 2017, and69,000 in other benefits, the documents showed.
The company said in a statement that the decrease invariable compensation resulted from criteria based on theaverage three-year change in Total's adjusted net income incomparison with those of its peers.
"The Board of Directors wants to emphasize that the decreaseby 17 percent of Patrick Pouyanne's cash remuneration due forthe year 2018, resulting from the strict application of therules,... doesn’t reflect in any way its appreciation of theexceptional work accomplished in 2018 by (him)," it said.
Pouyanne has often quipped that he is the least paid amongthe bosses of the global oil majors. The company reported a 28percent jump in full-year profit in 2018 to $13.6 billion.
In comparison, Shell's CEO Ben van Beurden's 2018pay package more than doubled to 20.1 million euros and ChevronCorp has said its Chief Executive Officer Michael Wirthis eligible for $19 million in total pay this year.
Total's shareholders will vote on Pouyanne's proposedpackage during an annual meeting on May 29.(Reporting by Bate Felix; editing by Leigh Thomas and KirstenDonovan)
