Total Can Withstand $80 Oil

Big oil companies such as Total can withstand oil prices at $80 a barrel and the French firm will continue its current investment projects, Total's president for exploration and production said on Monday.

"$100 was a good level to ensure continuous supply of projects for the future," Arnaud Breuillac told a news conference at a major energy industry conference in Abu Dhabi.

But he added, "Large companies like Total have financial capability to weather a bit of time when the oil price is lower," and said Total did not want to cut back its investment budget.

"We will continue with our capital discipline. We have a strong roadmap for the next few years with a lot of projects, and all of them will continue."

Breuillac also said Total did not think oil prices would stay as low as $80 for long. "We are experiencing a short-term imbalance and it is unclear how long it will last, but if it lasts too long, some companies will cancel projects."

Nine Asian and Western firms have bid for stakes in the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) concession, after a deal with Western oil majors that dates back to the 1970s expired in January.

State-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has asked the nine bidding companies to extend offers that were due to expire around Oct. 22 until Dec. 21, sources told Reuters in mid-October.

Breuillac said on Monday: "We are committed to Abu Dhabi and to partnership with ADNOC." Asked how confident he was about his company's concession bid, he replied: "We have put together a very strong deal."

On the situation in Iraqi Kurdistan, where the Kurdish regional government and the Iraqi central government are at loggerheads over sharing the region's oil resources, Breuillac said: "We are confident that there will be conventional oil from our operations there and that Baghdad and Kurdistan will reach an agreement."

Reporting by Maha El Dhana