The head of French oil giant Total SA said on Friday that sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program are a mistake because they will hurt the civilian population.
Speaking to reporters at the Rencontres Economiques conference in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, Christophe de Margerie also said Total is not studying a takeover of troubled BP PLC, although he might be interested in some of their assets if they were put on sale.
De Margerie said the French oil giant has suspended sales of gasoline to Iran after new sanctions were voted in by the US, the UN and the EU.
However, he said the stance is one of “realism” and not because he agrees with sanctions.
“It’s an error to think that we can solve political problems by getting involved in areas which are civilian in nature,” de Marggerie said.
Congress passed tough new sanctions against Iran, with penalties focusing on Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard and the country’s imports of gasoline and other refined energy products.
De Margerie said that even though Total is not a American company, it has to weigh possible repercussions against its US activities.
He said that oil companies need to work together to defend their overall safety record and make sure they can keep drilling in deep water following the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Asked about whether he would be interested in some of BP’s assets, he said: “We would look at them,” but that “to make a move today on BP, I think it’s not ethical, its not the moment, it’s not the subject.”
“The priority is to help BP and to make sure that such a catastrophe doesn’t happen elsewhere,” he said.
He said he was talking with some US oil executives and they agreed that “what is important is to keep our operating license.”
Meanwhile, BP shares posted a better than 8 percent gain this week, the first weekly increase since an April explosion on a BP-operated rig triggered a massive Gulf oil spill.
The first of two relief wells that are given the surest chance of plugging BP PLC’s gushing well is on target to be completed sometime next month, company and US government officials have said.
Many analysts, while concerned about potential liability, still feel BP can cover the costs of the containment, clean-up and legal matters.
BP’s US shares slipped US$0.04 to US$29.35 on Friday, but still recorded a gain of 8.6 percent for the week.
The market value of the shares rose US$7.29 billion this week.
However, that’s small consolation to long-term shareholders.
Since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, the value of the shares has dropped US$97.44 billion.
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