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BCN-25
FRANCE-ENERGY-OIL-EARNINGS-TOTA
France’s Total says profits hit by low oil price
PARIS, July 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – French oil and gas giant Total said
Thursday that its profits were hit by the falling oil price and low refinery
margins in the second quarter.
Total said in a statement that its net profit fell 26 percent to $2.8
billion in the period from April to June.
And adjusted for one-off factors, the bottom-line profit tumbled 19
percent, the statement said.
“The markets remain volatile,” said chief executive Patrick Pouyanne.
The price of a barrel of Brent North Sea crude averaged only $68.90 in the
second quarter of 2019, compared with $74.40 a year earlier. Natural gas
prices were also down 17 percent year-on-year.
The market is currently battling a number of disparate factors, Total
said.
On the one hand, the OPEC oil cartel and its ally Russia are cutting
production to prop up the price of crude and uncertainties persist about the
evolution of production in Libya, Venezuela and Iran.
On the other, “the environment remains volatile, with uncertainty about
hydrocarbon demand growth related to the outlook for global economic growth,”
Total said.
BSS/AFP/HR/1345