Total boss Christophe de Margerie will remain in police custody for another 24 hours, as French police continue their investigation into alleged kickbacks in an Iranian gas deal, a judicial source said today.
However, the AFX news agency said in a report that sources close to the matter said de Margerie was released from police custody shortly after 1100 GMT.
De Margerie spent last night in a cell at the Paris headquarters of the financial police, a judicial source told Reuters earlier today.
Total has said it is confident that the investigation will find no wrongdoing.
De Margerie was ordered in for questioning yesterday, together with four others who were released the same evening without charge.
Under French law, de Margerie can be held for a total of 48 hours, divided into two 24-hour periods, before a judge decides whether to place him under formal investigation.
(Upstream Online)