Americas News
Total: Oil Price Will Bounce Back Even Higher
Total SA (Total) CEO Patrick Pouyanné Wednesday said that oil prices will bounce back and that the negative effects for the industry of current oil prices may be overplayed, Financial Times reports.
"The cycle will come back and the price will come back higher again," Puoyanné told the Davos World Economic Forum.
He added that reports of tough times ahead for the industry were overplayed, saying they "underestimate the capacity of the system, particularly in the U.S. industry, to react in terms of efficiency."
Total, he said, will "weather the storm" as it is financially healthy and will make deeper cost cuts more quickly than planned.
Pouyanné did, however, say that highly geared companies may find it hard to maintain access to credit in the current climate.
The sentiment was somewhat echoed by Cresecent Petroleum CEO Majid Jafar, who said that current prices were an opportunity to focus on efficiency improvements in oil production.
"Everyone is looking at cutting fat but it is not as severe as cutting into muscle and bone."
Pouyanné said that overall, the oil industry would need to "invest a huge amount of money" given the strength of demand forecast by 2030.
On Wednesday, BP's Bob Dudley said there are "no guarantees" prices would bounce back, and low prices may last three years.
