Total said that Christophe de Margerie was aboard a private aircraft at the Vnukovo Airport in Moscow when the plane collided with snow-clearing equipment on take-off.
The crash killed all four people on board, the company said.
“The thoughts of the management and employees of the group go out to Christophe de Margerie’s wife, children and loved ones as well as to the families of the three other victims,” a statement from Total said.
De Margerie held the position of chief executive of the company from 2007, and added the position of chairman in 2010.
At the beginning of this year Total announced investment of up to £30 million in shale gas in the UK midlands, taking a 40 per cent share in two licences covering Lincolnshire’s Gainsborough Trough.
Total added that the governance and ethics committee and the board of directors will meet “without delay”.