UPDATE: Total CEO: Now's Not The Time To Be Eying BP Assets

2nd Jul 2010 19:19

(Adds background and additional comment from de Margerie.) AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France (Dow Jones)--Total SA (TOT, FR.FR) Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie Friday said now isn't the moment to be looking to cherry-pick assets from BP PLC (BP, BP.LN), which is suffering the fallout from its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. To do so without the company first putting assets up for sale would be "unethical" and it's "not the moment" to covet the company's assets, de Margerie told reporters on the sidelines of an economic conference here. "Today our priority isn't to look at BP's assets," de Margerie said. "The priority is to make sure that this [kind of spill] won't happen elsewhere." The CEO's remarks on BP echo his comments in an earlier interview with Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal. De Margerie also criticized new fuel sanctions against Iran, saying they will hurt ordinary people there. -By Adam Mitchell, Geraldine Amiel and Nathalie Boschat, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 40171756; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 02, 2010 14:19 ET (18:19 GMT)