Wednesday 29 October 2014

Falling oil price dents Total profits

French oil company Total today blamed falling oil prices for denting its profits.

Oil prices recently plummeted from around $100 per barrel to around the $80-85 mark.

Total’s financial results reveal profits for the year so far at $10 billion, a drop of 8% compared with this time last year.

The news comes a week after Total’s chief executive Christophe de Margerie died when his jet crashed into a snowplough in Moscow.

Declaring there had been an “outpouring of messages” commemorating his predecessor , the firm’s new CEO Patrick Pouyanné said he was “the captain of industry”.

Moving on to the results, he described income as "solid", with a "strong" performance in its Downstream business, "notably" in refining and chemicals.

He said the fall of Brent prices "highlights the importance" of cost-cutting programmes already launched across the business.