MOSCOW (MRC) -- The French oil and gas company Total has managed to offset the effects of weak commodity prices by reporting better-than-expected profits in the third quarter of 2016, said Cnbc.
Total's adjusted net income was USD2.1 billion in the third quarter of 2016, a 25 percent contraction compared to the same period a year ago but above an expected USD1.96 billion seen in a Reuters poll. The company's operating cash flow before working capital changes stood at USD4.5 billion.
The company has put in place a strategy to cut costs across all its units and this is set to continue. The company raised its cost-cutting target from USD2.4 billion to USD2.7 billion this year. This has meant cutting capital investment and exploring for oil in established fields. The company also noted that increased production at some of its new projects also helped it to deliver forecast-beating profits.
"Total continues to benefit from its integrated business model and is responding effectively to short-term challenges due to good operational performance and strong cost discipline," Patrick Pouyanne, Total's CEO said in a statement.
Major oil firms have been busy restructuring since mid-2014 when the price of oil dramatically sank from around USD110 a barrel. Oil prices were trading higher in Asia on Friday morning. Brent was up by 7 cents from Thursday at USD50.54 a barrel and WTI was up by 4 cents at USD49.76 a barrel.
As MRC informed earlier, the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) of Iran and France-based Total have signed an memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build a petrochemical complex in Iran.
Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
MRC