French Assembly moves to delay end of tax break on palm oil biofuel

France's National Assembly adopted an amendment delaying until 2026 the end of palm oil's tax advantages, a parliamentary document showed on Thursday, a move that could benefit French oil major Total. "The amendment aims to leave a sufficient transition period for French companies to prepare for the end of palm oil in biofuels", the text said.

Last month, France's constitutional court upheld a law excluding palm oil from the country's biofuel scheme, then rejecting an appeal by Total which said the measure would put at risk its production site in southern France. That legislation was due to remove palm oil from a list of permitted biofuels from January 2020.

Total invested 300 million euros to convert its La Mede site from a crude oil refinery into a biofuel plant, starting output in July. The company uses palm oil as part of the feed stock to produce biofuel.