Paris (AFP)
Oil exploration will continue in the future, even if demand is set to decline in the face of the climate emergency, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné said on Friday.
“Yes, demand is going to plateau and then decline - and in our 1.5 degree (warming) scenario the decline is around 1.5-2% per year,” he said at the Forum. Oddo BHF.
Total forecasts a decline in oil demand by 2030 in its scenario compatible with the Paris Climate Agreement, which aims to limit warming to 2 degrees or even 1.5 degrees.
"But people should not forget that oil is a funny business in which, if you don't invest, you have a natural decline of 4 to 5% per year," added the boss of Total.
Even with declining demand, it will therefore be necessary to maintain certain investments in the face of even more markedly declining oil reserves, according to him.
"We decided to focus on low-cost, cheap oil," Pouyanné said, citing a breakeven point of less than $ 20 a barrel.
He thus mentioned regions such as Africa and the Middle East, where the group is historically well established, but also Brazil and Suriname.
"There is no need to look for things which are in 3,000 meters of water, very far away or in the Arctic ... and which would be too expensive to develop, because anyway that oil might not never be produced, ”he stressed.
Total also has significant ambitions in renewable energies and this year will be "as active" as 2020 for the group in this area, he said.
"You will see over the next few days that we are strengthening our positions in countries such as the United States or India, and in biogas", announced Mr. Pouyanné.
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