(Adds quotes from BP CEO, chairman)
By Michel Rose and Dmitry Zhdannikov
PARIS/LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) - French oil major Total and British rival BP are under no pressure tomake acquisitions after the recent takeover of BG Group byAnglo-Dutch rival Shell, they said on Thursday.
Royal Dutch Shell unveiled plans last week to buyBG Group in the first oil super-merger in more than adecade, seeking to extend its lead in gas production and closethe gap with the world's biggest oil major, U.S. ExxonMobil.
Speaking at a conference in Paris, Total's chief executivesaid Shell's acquisition "made sense" but that there were otherways to grow in a falling oil price environment.
"I don't think Total is under pressure, we have a largeinvestment programme and organic growth to implement," PatrickPouyanne said.
"Total can do anything. It could do nothing, because wedon't need it ... We have very strong organic growth and manystart-ups to come, but if an opportunity arises, Total can act."
Pouyanne said betting on gas was a good strategy, because itwas a cleaner fossil fuel than coal, and he said Total too wasincreasingly becoming gas-focused, with gas already accountingfor 52 percent of its reserves.
BP's chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, who spoke at a BP annualshareholders meeting in London, also said the share of gas inBP's overall portfolio would rise to 60 percent from the current50. But he and chief executive Bob Dudley told shareholders theysaw no need to rush into a major merger.
"We are happy with our portfolio. This company doesn'tsuffer from being small," Svanberg said.
Asked if BP regretted not buying BG, Dudley said BP hadnever looked at the company closely and called reports in thepress that it did several years ago "just rumours."
Svanberg said he did not rule out BP looking at potentialtargets but said a big deal or a merger did not appear to be"the most logical thing to happen."
Dudley said he did not expect companies would rush toemulate Shell's mega deal immediately but said that the longeroil prices stayed low the more companies would come underfinancial stress and become acquisition targets.
"We are not optimistic the oil price will bounce backquickly ... Even if U.S. production levels off, there is still alot of oil surplus in the market," Dudley said. (Reporting by Michel Rose in Paris and Dmitry Zhdannikov inLondon; Editing by James Regan and Jane Merriman)
BP (BP.)
