Oil industry costs are spiraling out of control, and it’s time to rein them in, Total CEO Christophe de Margerie insisted Tuesday. “Excellence cannot be an excuse for doing anything at any price,” de Margerie told oil and gas industry executives gathered at the IHS CERAWeek energy summit in Houston. “We cannot continue to swallow this huge inflation.” The French oil executive suggested that soaring capital expenditures are partly being driven by greedy subcontractors. He stopped short of naming names, but blamed “Asian countries (that) think we are ready to pay forever.” “We have to go to the sub-subcontractors and say: ‘We know what’s going on. We can no longer be the deep pocket,’” de Margerie said. Big oil cuts De Margerie’s comments came […]