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Total, a French multinational oil and gas company, has said it is seeking opportunities to acquire assets from struggling competitors, following a better-than-expected fourth quarter net profit. The company disclosed on Thursday that is expects to invest $16-$17 billion in 2017, compared with $18.3 billion in 2016.

Despite prolonged downturn in oil prices, the company reported adjusted net profit of $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016, up 16 per cent from Q4 2015. This was due to a strong push to cut down production costs.
 
Speaking with journalists in Paris, Chief Executive Officer of Total, Patrick Pouyanne, said Total was aiming to make a further $3.5 billion in savings this year, from $2.8 billion in 2014. The company plans to reduce production costs to $5.5 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe), compared with $9.9/boe in 2014.

"After two years of very low prices, there are companies around the world that have good assets but are struggling. It is left to us to choose good assets that are of interest to us," Pouyanne said. "We are in a field of opportunities. We have a good balance sheet and financial means that others do not have."

The company forecasts to grow production by more than 4 per cent, in alignment with its goal to increase output on average by 5 per cent per year from 2014 to 2020.

Total said it plans to make final investment decisions on almost a dozen projects within the next 18 months.