Total SA appointed Patrick Pouyanne CEO, succeeding Christophe de Margerie, killed in a plane crash earlier this week.
Pouyanne, currently the company’s refining chief and long-touted as a potential successor, was named CEO at a board meeting in Paris, the company said in a statement. Thierry Desmarest returns for a second stint as chairman of the board until the end of 2015.
The new CEO will have to see through a round of cost cuts as lower oil prices and weak returns from refining eat into profit at France’s largest company by sales. De Margerie, killed Oct. 20 when his private jet struck a snowplow on a Moscow runway, had sold older fields and sought to pare investments in new projects as part of a pledge to investors last month to cut $2 billion in costs a year.
“Christophe de Margerie’s death comes at a delicate time for oil companies,” Olivier Appert, head of IFP Energies Nouvelles research institute, said by telephone. “Oil prices are volatile and the challenges are numerous in many countries like Russia. European companies like Total are also facing downstream issues due to the downturn in refining.”
The company will split the role of chairman and CEO, which de Margerie had combined, until the end of 2015, when Desmarest, 68, reaches the mandatory retirement age.
CEO before de Margerie took charge in 2007, Desmarest had remained chairman until 2010.
Recommended Reading
US Refiners to Face Tighter Heavy Spreads this Summer TPH
2024-04-22 - Tudor, Pickering, Holt and Co. (TPH) expects fairly tight heavy crude discounts in the U.S. this summer and beyond owing to lower imports of Canadian, Mexican and Venezuelan crudes.
US Gulf Coast Heavy Crude Oil Prices Firm as Supplies Tighten
2024-04-10 - Pushing up heavy crude prices are falling oil exports from Mexico, the potential for resumption of sanctions on Venezuelan crude, the imminent startup of a Canadian pipeline and continued output cuts by OPEC+.
Imperial Expects TMX to Tighten Differentials, Raise Heavy Crude Prices
2024-02-06 - Imperial Oil expects the completion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion to tighten WCS and WTI light and heavy oil differentials and boost its access to more lucrative markets in 2024.
Oil Broadly Steady After Surprise US Crude Stock Drop
2024-03-21 - Stockpiles unexpectedly declined by 2 MMbbl to 445 MMbbl in the week ended March 15, as exports rose and refiners continued to increase activity.
What's Affecting Oil Prices This Week? (March 25, 2024)
2024-03-25 - On average, Stratas Advisors are forecasting that oil supply will be at a deficit of 840,000 bbl/d in 2024.