Total CEO is Unfazed by Saudi Anti-Corruption Sweep
GOLODRYGA: It's day two of declines on Wall Street. The Dow and Nasdaq and S&P close in the red with the energy sector leading the losses. Stocks like Exxon, Halliburton and Schlumberger taking a hit. As oil prices drop for the fourth day in a row from a downbeat report from the International Energy Agency and unexpected increase in U.S. crude supplies. The CEO of French oil giant, Total, has said that crude above 60 a barrel is in the mutual interests of both Russia and Saudi Arabia. Patrick Pouyanne said he's unfazed by the anti-corruption sweep in Saudi as he is used to managing geopolitical risk. John Defterios is in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.</s>JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNNMONEY EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Bianna, it's been a very busy month on many fronts here in Riyadh. This week, it's the miss global forum promote young to entrepreneurs. Three weeks ago, it was the Davos in the desert, having 3 500 global investors. In between, from the crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, a crackdown on corruption. So, what is the message coming out of here? And does Saudi Arabia want to extend its agreement with Russia on the OPEC, non-OPEC agreement with oil prices hovering above 60 a barrel for the international benchmark. I posed those questions to the chief executive of the French oil giant, Total.</s>PATRICK POUYANNE, CEO, TOTAL: It's in the interest of two big questions. They moved to 60 is better than $50 for these two countries. When you put your 10, 12, million barrels of oil per day, it's fundamental. And the situation in Russia and Saudi Arabia is much better today. It is a minimum 2018. Stability, just to give a message of stability. So, let's maintain discipline.</s>DEFTERIOS: I saw you at the future investment summit. Great joy of all of these international investors in place in Riyadh and then a crackdown on corruption. How do you see it is it an overreach by the crown prince?</s>POUYANNE: He has taken many decisions, several modernizations, end of the religious police, the women can drive. He is sending signals to his young population. And this is important. It's, of course, a big change. You can understand what it's like in my company when I want to change organization, I have resistance. So, I think he is facing some resistance. But what is clear, he has a strong willingness. And from a global perspective, I think it's good to see a modernization of Saudi Arabia.</s>DEFTERIOS: This doesn't scare you off as an international investor in Saudi Arabia. The aggressive nature of the crackdown on corruption.</s>POUYANNE: You have the difficulties. You have tensions. Again, for Total in Saudi Arabia, we are investors in refining, we discussed big projects and petrochemicals there. But, you know, at the end of the day, we are accustomed to manage these geopolitical risks. It's also important, I think, in this business -- royalty is important with this type of Middle East country. So, to be able to continue to invest, when they have difficulties is also a sign of royalty and they recognize that.</s>DEFTERIOS: You see the alliance between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Does it give you second thoughts about your gas deal in Iran? Will you back off at all, or do you proceed, despite this process in Congress today?</s>POUYANNE: Either we can do the deal legally, if there is a legal framework and then we will proceed. If we cannot do that for legal reasons, because change of regime of sanctions, then we have to revisit it. But today we are working on the project.</s>DEFTERIOS: Does it make a difference whether the United States does or not, to you? Or are you staying in anyway?</s>POUYANNE: Of course, it makes a difference. We know we have to again a sanctioned regime, we have to look at it carefully. We are a big company. And we work in the U.S. we have assets in the U.S. and if we can do it legally, we'll do it. We can do it. We can do it. So, we are committed both to Iran and to the U.S. and to Saudi Arabia.</s>DEFTERIOS: Patrick Pouyanne of Total showing the complexities of this triad. The United States, Saudi Arabia and Iran, with the company having projects in all three. Bianna.</s>GOLODRYGA: John Defterios our thanks to you. Lebanon's prime minister is expected to travel to Paris in the coming days. The Lebanese president has accused Saudi Arabia of holding Saad al-Hariri hostage. Lebanon is one of the flashpoints and Saudi Arabia's power struggle with Iran. The former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni spoke with CNN's Paula Newton. Ms. Livni says she believes Iran's growing influence is a threat to the whole region.</s>TZIPI LIVNI, FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER, ISRAEL: We see Iran, that represents religious ideology against all of us. Against Israel, against the West, it is because of our values, because there is no real conflict between us and them. But they are not willing to accept as for what we are, and for our beliefs and values. Now we have Iran, and we have Iran influencing Iraq and we have Iran putting steps on the ground in Syria. And we have the proxy of Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon. So, if you imagine the map, we have the stronger Iran getting more and more power, steps on the ground, building -- or trying, anyway, to stay in Syria the day after. So, it's not just, you know, Iran and Russia helping Assad in his fights. But they are thinking about the future.</s>PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Iran is there. It has put its boots on the ground. It is not going anywhere.</s>LIVNI: No, yes. Iran is there. But now Iran is everywhere. And this is the problem. I'm not just talking about Iran as a state. We are talking about Iran with this imaginary ideal of changing the region in creating, of creating one Iran --</s>NEWTON: What's the danger? Because Iran would say they are balancing what has been a very dangerous ideology from Saudi Arabia.</s>LIVNI: Listen. For me, it is less important whether the ideology is an extreme interpretation of Shia or Sunni. And so, Iran, when I look at al Qaeda or ISIS or Hezbollah or Hamas, some of them representing Shiite Shiism and the other Sunni Shiism. Iran represents ambitious -- to be a super power to achieve a nuclear weapon. Using Hezbollah and arming Hezbollah against the Security Council resolution. Therefore, this is something we -- this is something which is too dangerous. It's a real danger.</s>NEWTON: Saudi Arabia, there's been a lot of skepticism about what has going on in the last few weeks, certainly the last few months. But the last few weeks have been quite traumatic. What are your impressions of why they are doing this?</s>LIVNI: Well, you know, that Israel doesn't have the diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia.</s>NEWTON: You have relations with the Saudis.</s>LIVNI: We don't have diplomatic relations with --</s>NEWTON: You do speak to them, though.</s>LIVNI: It is clear that they express their concern from Iran. And these values expressing our concern from Iran. But it doesn't mean that we are working together with them. But I think that what happened now in Lebanon, and I don't want to refer to the situation, what's happened to him. But I think that this should symbolize and pay attention to the -- not normal situation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization expressing or exploiting expressing democracy in Lebanon. So, we -- regardless what's so we - regardless what's happening with the Saudis, I think that this should be also the spotlight now.</s>GOLODRYGA: Fascinating conversation. And tomorrow meantime, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS will be live from Saudi Arabia, as the region goes through the major upheaval. Richard will be live from Riyadh an Thursday and Friday at the usual time, only on CNN. And up next, the latest on the sexual harassment scandal that is sweeping Capitol Hill. But first, we head to India for the latest in our series "Traders".</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Hyderabad, India's Silicon Valley, the team behind my dentist choice.com, built an online marketplace for the local dental industry. Their mission is to service this much neglected area, providing dentists with the tools to practice.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My Dentist Choice is an e- commerce company, supplying 10,000 to 12,000 products across India. Three founders kicked off this company with the vision of supplying all the materials to increase the level of our dentistry in India.</s>SUNIL MEDA, COFOUNDER, MY DENTIST CHOICE: It is also a site where it shares some courses which would enhance doctor skills for doing their real work.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For decades, informal dental businesses like these plugged the health care gap. For every 8, 000 people, there's just one dentist. Those few are mostly concentrated in urban areas. The trade- enomics of the dental health market is smiling at $50 billion worldwide. And the opportunities for future growth are wide open. Because teeth require constant care. From our first to our final tooth, nearly everyone will be afflicted with tooth decay or the throbbing pain of a toothache at some point in their lives. More serious oral diseases affect more than half the global population. And for some of us, by the time we reach our senior years, all our natural teeth will have fallen out. A few hours outside Hyderabad, patients wait at the Happy Smiles Dental Practice.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going through three root canal treatments.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came here about my wife's treatment. She's having a root canal treatment.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, I'm suffering from to say for one week.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By signing up through the e- commerce platform, the platform has widened a number of treatments offered.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to achieve every person, even from a remote village, could have access and could have better dental care.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He and his co-founders say they have seen year on year growth double since 2014. Their focus now is on expansion.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The biggest challenge is building the trust between the companies and expanding the largest -- reaching the rural part of India. We are now very stable in terms of the logistics, supplying the products, the right products within 24 hours. There is still a significant market to reach and we are only touching not even .5% of the market.