French quarterly profits of Total are 99 percent lower

Paris-Sana

French company Total said its quarterly profit fell 99 percent due to lower oil prices, citing plans to cut its investment in response to the ongoing crisis in the crude market.

"The group faces exceptional circumstances as a result of the Covid 19 health crisis that affects the global economy and creates a great state of uncertainty and an oil market crisis with a significant drop in prices since last March," Agence France-Presse quoted the company's CEO, Patrick Boyan, as saying in a statement.

The company announced a net profit of 34 million dollars for the first quarter of the year, compared to 1.3 billion dollars a year ago.

The company stated that it is in the process of setting a new ceiling for savings by reducing its investments and production of crude oil, and the investment ceiling will be below 14 billion dollars this year, a quarter less than the company announced in February.

Since late March, oil recorded additional losses with the collapse of demand due to the measures imposed to contain the emerging Corona virus, and the price of a barrel reached below zero last month.