Tuesday February 06, 2007

Total sets its sights on nuclear energy

peakoil.com -> msnbc.msn.com :

Total, the French energy group, has begun to eye nuclear energy as access to oil and gas becomes more restricted in countries reluctant to allow foreign investment in their most precious resource.

Christophe de Margerie, who will take over as Total's chief executive this month, will continue to focus on the hunt for hydrocarbons - gas and oil - something he is well known for in the industry. But in an interview he revealed his nuclear ambitions. "Being in the energy business, [which] we consider not only as our business but also as a responsibility vis a vis the consumers, we will certainly one day have to be part of this [nuclear] adventure," he said.

Although it was not an immediate concern, he said, as access to hydrocarbons became more difficult, Total was branching out into other forms of energy. Renewables would only ever satisfy a small portion of the world's overall energy needs, even though they would be important sources in certain countries that lacked oil and gas. So for Total, "if it is not hydrocarbons, if it is not renewables, if it is not nuclear, what is it"?

- Are the "oil majors" going to morph into "nuclear majors"? Looks like Total might lead the way. After all, the French are already 80% nuclear, in terms of electricity production. Meanwhile, Shell is turning into an "oil sands major" with their big Canadian project, and BP is trying to become a "solar major".

As the availability of crude oil declines, the big oil companies are going to be less and less about oil, and more and more about other forms of energy. They refer to themselves as "energy companies" nowadays. BP has re-branded itself as "Beyond Petroleum" instead of "British Petroleum". It is telling.

(2007-02-06 18:58:45 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

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