, Columnist
Total's Not-So-Excellent Adventure
It warns of a huge supply shortfall but isn't doing much about it.
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Total has an admirably straightforward approach to dealing with the slump in oil and gas prices:
Sure, "be excellent" is an oddly retro, Bill-and-Ted-esque mantra for a French oil major. But it recognizes that, even when you're in the ranks of Big Oil, there's really damn all you can do to move the market price one way or the other. When you produce a commodity, sustainable success really comes down to getting your hands on the lowest-cost reserves and sweating those assets furiously.