Total SA's (TOT) Chairman and Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie said Thursday he expects the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to act to avert a slide in oil prices when oil ministers meet next week in Vienna, underscoring the energy major's concerns about the sharp drop in crude.

"OPEC has all the means to prevent (crude) oil prices falling too low," Mr. de Margerie said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, on the sidelines of the World Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur .

With Europe facing a major economic crisis that threatens to engulf the European single currency, and with the latest data casting doubt on the strength of the U.S. economic recovery, it is unlikely that OPEC will announce any plans to cut production to boost the crude oil prices, Mr. de Margerie said.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer and OPEC's eminent member, has already substantially increased its production to compensate for the drop in output resulting from the implementation of an embargo against Iran, another OPEC member, which will come in full force on July 1st, said Mr. de Margerie.

The Saudi's move created a temporary oversupply of the market which should be reabsorbed as geopolitical tensions remain acute, he said, in a reference to the sanctions against Iran and the civil unrest in Syria which forced the French major to stop production there earlier this year.

Yet "the fundamentals plead for higher oil prices, as underlying demand is still high and the geopolitical tensions are higher than ever," Mr. de Margerie said.

A balanced price which supports long term investments is around one hundred dollars a barrel, he said, adding that Total has also estimated $80 a barrel as sustainable for short term investments.

The situation in Europe isn't that worrisome, Mr. de Margerie said, as he believes that the single currency won't disappear. Yet he didn't rule out that the scope of the euro zone (and therefore of the euro) might change, in a veiled reference to a potential exit of Greece from the bloc.

Such an event is unlikely to dent the group's business directly, he said.

But any strengthening of the euro does dent the group's refining margins, which are expressed in U.S. dollars and have been suffering from overcapacities in Europe . "When the euro is lower to the dollar, it's better for our margins," he said.

Asked if the group would consider further cutting its refining capacities in Europe , Mr. de Margerie noted that the group was turning its refinery in Rome into a storage plant, after having recently transformed its Dunkirk plant in Northern France into a storage unit and cut some capacities of its Normandy refinery, also in Northern France .

"We'll adapt our refining capacities to the market," he said, noting that European governments were all pushing for lower gasoline and diesel consumption. "If there is less consumption, less capacities will be needed."

As for the dividend, the group will resume proposing one from the second quarter, after the gas leak at its Elgin North Sea platform stopped production and forced Total to suspend any dividend announcement in the first quarter, he said, noting that the payment of a dividend is fully covered by the group's cashflow.

The group, which has increased its capital expenditures to boost its production profile in the coming years, has also divested around $15 billions over the last two years, he insisted.

"Our policy is of course to have shareholders taking part in the group's expansion," he said.

Mr. de Margerie will travel to Vienna ahead of the OPEC International Seminar (featuring some of the OPEC ministers and other industry players), which takes place next Wednesday and Thursday.

Διαβάστε ακόμα