Total: Crude reserve replacement now $80/barrel

World demand for oil may soon outstrip supply as the cost of replacing reserves reaches $80 a barrel, according to the head of Total SA, Europe’s third- largest petroleum company.

“If we aren’t careful in the next few years there will be a shortage of oil and gas to cover demand,” Total Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie told French deputies at a National Assembly commission in Paris today. “New forms of energy won’t come quickly enough to compensate.”

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