Total SA is in talks with Libya's interim leaders about expanding its business in the North African country, the French oil major's chief executive told a German newspaper.
“We want to cooperate with the Libyans on an industrial development plan to develop their oil and gas production,” Christophe de Margerie told daily Handelsblatt in an interview published on Monday.
He said Total was working on a list of concrete proposals that it hoped to submit to Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) by the end of 2011. He said he wrote a letter to the president of the NTC and received a positive response.
“But we are not yet talking about new oil production contracts,” de Margerie said.
Total earlier this month said it has not discussed oil contracts in Libya and was not aware of a reported deal between Tripoli's new rulers and Paris that would give France priority access to Libyan oil wealth.
Total had production of 55,000 barrels a day in Libya prior to the six-month war that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi and is set to be among the companies most likely to benefit from a resumption of business in the oil-rich country.
“We have good reason to believe that our production facilities are in good shape despite the conflict. So we should be able to resume oil production quite quickly,” de Margerie told Handelsblatt.
He said Total could in future develop business with liquid natural gas in Libya or help the national oil company there develop oil and gas reserves more aggressively.
Commenting on Total's nuclear power ambitions, de Margerie said he was still interested but needed a partner and a project to work on.
Earlier this year, discussions on the construction of a new nuclear reactor at Penly in France were frozen, but Total has said it still remained committed to investing in nuclear power.
“I haven't heard anything about this project in a long time,” de Margerie told Handelsblatt.
“Germany wants to exit nuclear power, Italy as well, and the United States is thinking about it. France it talking about lowering the proportion of nuclear power in the energy mix. Where should we then invest?”
At the same time, he said he did not believe that the Fukushima catastrophe in Japan earlier this year would mean the end of nuclear power altogether. - Reuters