By Inti Landauro
PARIS--Patrick Pouyanne, the newly appointed chief executive of
French oil major Total SA (TOT), Wednesday said he expects OPEC
will act on supply to support oil prices after the recent
decline.
Mr. Pouyanne, who took over at the helm of the company after the
tragic death of his predecessor, said in a conference call with
analysts that Total sees "no reason to change its long term
outlook". Mr. Pouyanne added that "OPEC will remain a market mover
and will manage responsibly the resource and will eventually defend
the oil price." The company expects the price of Brent to return to
levels higher than at the start of October.
Total's Chief Financial Officer Patrick de la Chevardiere said
the company's oil fields are over breakeven with Brent price at
$80, though the company will focus on cost-cutting. He added the
company will have enough cash to pay a dividend even at $80 a
barrel, he said. The average price of the key Brent crude oil
benchmark over the period fell by 8% during the third quarter,
denting Total's earnings. Since then, the price has fallen by
another 11%.
The company's CFO said Total loses about $1.5 billion of net
profit for every $10 decline on the Brent oil price.
-Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com
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