UPDATE: Total CFO: Lower Costs, Delays May Allow Lower Capex

Lower costs and project delays may allow oil major Total SA (TOT) to spend less than its planned 2009 capital expenditure budget of $18 billion, Chief Financial Officer Patrick de la Chevardiere said Wednesday.

"Falling costs and potential project delays may allow us to spend less. However, there could be new opportunities to add," de la Chevardiere said on a conference call to discuss Total's first-quarter results.

"What I can tell you now is that we are working hard to optimize the development cost of all our pending projects," he said, adding: "I think we will be able to do more with less."

The company will provide an update on the subject in September, he also said.

Oil companies like Total are pushing for better prices from contractors now that the prices of commodities like oil and steel have eased.

-By Adam Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]