Dubai: Energy company Total said it is trying to cut costs in the wake of drop in global oil prices and execute the projects in an efficient way.

The company’s president for the Middle East and North Africa region Stephane Michel said they started reducing expenses even before the prices went down and are continuing with it.

“We are trying to save on drilling rigs, on service rates and are renegotiating with the contractors to lower the costs,” said Michel while speaking to Gulf News at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.

He said none of their projects are affected due to the fall in prices. “Ongoing projects are continuing. You can’t stop in the middle of the construction. We are trying to do the projects in an efficient way due to low oil prices.”

Oil prices have been going down for the past seven months due to oversupply and weak demand on the global market.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), which met in Vienna in November, refused to cut production triggering a further plunge in prices.

When asked about whether the company has any plans to cut jobs due to current fall in oil prices, he said they are not planning to reduce their workforce.

On the Abu Dhabi oil concession, Michel said it was important for the company.

“We worked for seventy years in the emirates and are definitely committed for the next. We are part of the tenders and we are waiting for the decision.”

Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Petroleum Council, the Gulf State’s top oil sector decision maker, is presently evaluating bids from Western and Asian majors seeking to gain access to the onshore concession of Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations, which expired in early 2014.

The UAE energy minister Suhail Mohammad Al Mazroui recently said the current slide in oil prices will not have any impact on oil concession talks.

Total is also working on a project in collaboration with Masdar to map the complex behaviour of the region’s carbonate reserves.

The company is a partner with Masdar in Shams 1 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region, the largest concentrated solar power plant in the Middle East and North Africa.

Michel said they are always considering new projects and are doing a lot of exploration in Oman, Cyprus, Qatar and North Africa.