Total Expects Oil-Industry Downgrades as Dividends Maintained
- French company announces further cuts to costs and investment
- Oil and gas producer will sell more assets such as pipelines
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Total SA became the latest major energy company to keep investor payouts, accepting that the industry risks credit-rating downgrades by maintaining dividends amid the worst oil crash in 30 years.
“Probably most of the industry will be downgraded,” Chief Financial Officer Patrick de la Chevardiere said Thursday at a press briefing in London. The impact on Total will be “very negligible” since the market has already priced in the higher cost of credit amid crude’s collapse, he said.