Asked in 2010 if oil companies were right to make deals with the world’s despots and dictators, Christophe de Margerie, the boss of Total who died in a plane crash in Russia Monday night, gave a typically unequivocal answer: “bloody right.”

It was a reply that summed up a man unapologetic about doing whatever was necessary to keep the oil and profits flowing, no matter the opinion of the public, politicians or regulators.

De Margerie’s bushy, walrus-like facial hair earned him the nickname “Big Moustache”, but in his younger years he went by a different sobriquet – “Mr Middle East” – heading Total’s operations in that area from 1995.

It was a job that saw him scour for oil in some of the world’s most politically volatile places and made him a natural choice to head the French oil giant’s exploration and production department when the role became vacant in 2002.

Dictators and strongmen

In places like Iraq, Iran, Angola and Burma, de Margerie struck deals with some of the world’s most notorious strongmen and dictators in the pursuit of “black gold” – a way of doing business that may seem unpalatable and even immoral to some, but which de Margerie saw as a necessity.

“Because we have no oil or gas [in France],” he told Forbes in 2011. “Where did the US companies find their first oil and gas? And their reserves and their cash? It [was] here [in the US], not in France. This is why the French companies are always looking for partnerships.”

This “do whatever it takes” modus operandi landed Total and de Margerie in hot water on more than one occasion.

He spent 36 hours under interrogation by French authorities in 2007 over a $2 billion deal with Iran in 1997 to develop its Persian Gulf gas field, for which it was alleged Total bribed Iranian politicians and middlemen to secure, while de Margerie was still the firm’s Middle East head.

Total ended up paying a fine of $398 million to US regulators to settle the civil and criminal allegations, but de Margerie was acquitted of any wrongdoing.

Then, in 2007 he was hauled before a French court over corruption allegations as part of Iraq’s controversial oil-for-food programme, in which Total was accused of circumventing sanctions against Saddam Hussein’s regime by using intermediaries to pay surcharges for Iraqi oil.

US investigators said a total of $1.8 billion in illicit income ended up in Baghdad’s coffers. Six years later, a Paris court cleared total and de Margerie of corruption charges.

A ‘true friend’ of Putin

Never afraid to go against public opinion or refusing to tow the line set by Western politicians, de Margerie has more recently become a staunch defender of doing business with Russia, even after relations between Moscow and the international community were severely strained due to the Ukraine crisis.

Indeed, he was on his way back from a conference on increasing foreign investment in Russia.

The oil-rich country is one of Total’s most important markets and ever a realist, de Margerie saw dealing with Russia as vital to securing Europe’s energy supplies.

But there was also a suggestion that he saw cooperating with the likes of Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as other controversial leaders as more than about oil or profits,

For him, such deals were also a means of breaking down of barriers between nations.

"Are we going to build a new Berlin Wall?" he said in an interview with Reuters in July. "Russia is a partner and we shouldn't waste time protecting ourselves from a neighbour ... What we are looking to do is not to be too dependent on any country, no matter which. Not from Russia, which has saved us on numerous occasions."

One of the most remarkable things about de Margerie was that despite his dealings with a bevy of regimes perceived as unsavoury by the West, he made remarkably few enemies on the world stage.

After news of his death emerged Monday, French President François Hollande said he was “stunned and saddened'', praising de Margerie for defending French industry on the global stage, and for his “independent character and original personality”.

Putin, meanwhile, described him as a “real friend” whom “we will remember with the greatest warmth”.

Against the grain

De Margerie’s plain talking style, a refreshing divergence from the reserved, polished speech of many oil company executives, also made him popular among the press, while his willingness to defend the practices of oil companies won him admiration from the industry.

“You are responsible of bringing energy to your clients,” he said in a BBC interview last year defending the environmental costs of fracking. “You are responsible of bringing electricity. You are responsible for having people living and not dying. So who is taking the decision of what do we leave in the ground?”

His willingness to go against the grain was evident from an early age. The grandson of Pierre Taittinger, founder of the Taittinger champagne dynasty, de Margerie could have easily just entered the family business.

After graduating from France’s prestigious École Supérieure de Commerce, he decided to work for Total because, he said in a 2007 interview with French Daily

Le Monde

, its headquarters were within walking distance of his Paris home.

That was back in 1974, and de Margerie was then just a mere intern at one of the world’s biggest multinationals.

It took him until 2007 before he reached the rank of CEO, adding the role of chairman in 2010.

During his time as Total’s top boss, he oversaw a radical shift in the oil giant’s strategy, selling off more mature oil fields in places like the Gulf of Mexico, where production was on the wane, and exploring higher risk, but potentially more rewarding ventures.

The problem for Total, the fourth largest Western oil company by market value, will now be how to fill the void left by de Margerie at a pivotal time in the development of this new strategy and when big energy firms are under pressure to cut costs.

France24