Total: No Investment in US Shale

France’s oil and gas major Total—one of the few majors without exposure to shale assets—is not thinking of investing in the US shale patch, even after BP moved in to buy assets from BHP in one of the largest deals in its history.

“It is first quite expensive, second we do not have the human resources,” Total’s CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on the sidelines of an oil industry event in Stavanger, Norway, Oil Price reported.

“BP had the human resources; BP had already a position, so I can understand their move but it’s not my case,” said Pouyanne, as quoted by Reuters, when asked whether the BP-BHP deal in the shale patch made the US shale industry more attractive.

Earlier this year, Pouyanne said at another conference, CERAWeek in Houston, that he thinks that the Permian is not the best allocation of capital to create value for the French company and its shareholders.

Unlike its competitors, Total does not have a position in the Permian and it would be quite costly to try to gain one at this point in the game. For this reason, the Permian is not a priority for the French company, its chief executive said at CERAWeek in March this year.

"Total’s current priority areas are the Middle East, Africa, the North Sea, deepwater and liquefied natural gas," Pouyanne said back then.