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London - Total unveiled Monday a cost-cutting programme and further asset sales that will also see the French oil company invest less as it tries to lift its profitability.
Chief Financial Officer Patrick de la Chevardiere told investors in London that Total would strive to reduce its operating costs by $2bn by 2017, but that no layoffs were foreseen in France.
Chevardiere said overcapacity in the refining sector in Europe was forcing Total to adapt, but said no decisions had yet been taken and that the cost-cutting drive would affect all segments including exploration and extraction.
Investments, which peaked at $28bn in 2013, are set to fall to $26bn this year and to $25bn in 2017.
The company said it aimed to sell $15bn in assets between 2015 and 2017, having met its goal of $15bn to $20bn in disposals in 2012-2014.
"Total is continuing its transformation by focusing on strategic assets providing growth and high profitability," it said in a statement in which it targeted profitability above 15%.
The company saw its second quarter net profit fall 12.0% on a current cost basis, excluding the effects of changes in inventory values, to $3.15bn.
It forecast production will rise to 2.8 million barrels per day (mbd) in 2017 from 2.3 million mbd in the second quarter of this year as a number of new projects come on line.
This is down from earlier forecasts of 3.0 mbd due to asset sales and delays, however.
Chevardiere said work on constructing a natural gas liquefaction plant in Yamal in northwestern Siberia was continuing despite EU and US sanctions on Russia.
He said the project could no longer be financed in dollars so Total was looking for funding in euros, rubles or yuan.
