Total Produce Share Discussion Threads

[ariane] 10/4/2007 11:36

Oil Rises From 12-Day Low; Iran Starts Industrial Enriching

By Eduard Gismatullin

April 10 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose from a 12-day low in New York after Iran said it had started to enrich uranium on an industrial scale, in defiance of the United Nations.

Iran, the Middle East's second-largest oil supplier, aims to install 50,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium as part of its nuclear program, Gholam Reza, the head of the country's Atomic Energy Organization said. Crude also gained on speculation rising gasoline demand and prolonged refinery maintenance may have cut U.S. motor-fuel supplies for a ninth straight week.

``There is a resurgence in tension due to Iran's announcement it will proceed with uranium enrichment,'' said Jean-Bernard Guyon, managing director of Global Gestion in Paris. ``Prices would be expected to drop'' in the second quarter on lower demand, ``however, U.S. stocks are low.''

Crude oil for May delivery increased as much as 48 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $61.99 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $61.90 at 11:35 a.m. in London.

The contract tumbled $2.77, or 4.3 percent, to $61.51 a barrel yesterday, the lowest close since March 21 and the biggest one-day decline since Jan. 4. Prices plunged after the return of British naval personnel captured by Iran had eased concerns about deliveries from the Middle East.

Brent crude oil for May settlement increased as much as 54 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $67.13 a barrel in electronic trading on the ICE Futures exchange. The contract was last at $66.80.

`Fear Premium'

Yesterday's statement that Iran had begun enriching uranium on an industrial scale defied the UN Security Council resolution, which gave Iran 60 days from March 24 to suspend enrichment.

Iran had ignored three such deadlines. The Security Council demands were in response to allegations by the U.S. and some of its allies that Iran is using the development of nuclear power to produce weapons in contravention of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

``There is still significant amount of fear premium built in as long this ongoing battle goes on between the West and Iran over the nuclear issue,'' said Guy Gleichmann, the president of United Strategic Investors Group, from Hollywood, Florida. ``This looks like an escalation.''

Oil futures reached $68.09 a barrel on March 27, the highest since Sept. 6, after Iran seized 15 British marines and sailors in the Persian Gulf. They were returned to the U.K. on April 5.

Iran is the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Almost a quarter of the global supply flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman at the mouth of the Gulf.

`Well Supplied'

The crude market is ``well supplied,'' Qatar's Oil Minister Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah told reporters in Doha today. Oil prices have been ``affected by geopolitics and speculation which we have no control over.''

U.S. gasoline inventories possibly fell 1.4 million barrels in the week ending April 6, based on a Bloomberg News survey of 10 analysts. Refiners usually increase output this time of year to meet peak summer driving demand.

Gasoline stockpiles probably fell to 203.8 million barrels in the week ended April 6, according to a Bloomberg survey. That would leave supplies 1.4 percent lower than the 206.7 million barrels average for that period in the last five years, according to Bloomberg calculations using Energy Department data.

Falling Inventories

Gasoline inventories declined 9.7 percent to 205.2 million barrels in the eight weeks ended March 30, according to U.S. Energy Department data. Demand, based on deliveries from refineries, jumped to a 15-week high that week, and averaged 9.3 million barrels a day in the four weeks, 1.7 percent more than the same period a year earlier, the department said last week.

Gasoline for May delivery rose 1.33 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $2.108 a gallon in after-hours trading in London.

``The key issue for the most traders is the gasoline,'' said Gleichmann. ``Gasoline supplies in near-term are in shortfall.''

The department's weekly inventory report tomorrow also will probably show U.S. crude-oil supplies rose to a four-month high last week as fires and plant breakdowns slowed refinery demand.

Oil stockpiles probably gained 1.95 million barrels last week, from 332.7 million barrels on March 30, based on the median estimate from the Bloomberg News analyst survey. Refinery utilization probably rose to 87.5 percent, from 87 percent the two previous weeks.

Crude-oil supplies in Cushing, Oklahoma, where oil traded in New York is delivered, surged 12 percent in the week ended March 30, according to Energy Department data. Fires and power outages have forced refiners to shut units, reducing crude-oil demand and slowing efforts to stockpile fuel for the summer.

Total SA, Europe's third-largest oil company, yesterday said it is conducting emergency flaring at its 240,000 barrel a day refinery in Port Arthur, Texas.

Motiva Enterprises LLC, the refining joint venture between Europe's Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Saudi Arabia's state oil company, said the failure of a sulfur-recovery unit at its 285,000 barrel-a-day plant in the city required emergency flaring on April 8.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eduard Gismatullin in London at [e-mail]

Last Updated: April 10, 2007 06:55 EDT

[waldron] 09/4/2007 09:12

Friday, April 6, 2007
Total boss says unaware of any US corruption probe
By AFP

React Send by e-mail Save Print PARIS, April 5, 2007 (AFP) - The head of French oil group Total said Thursday he had not been informed of an investigation by US authorities into the company's activities in Iran and Iraq.

"I have not received anything (from US authorities)," chief executive Christophe de Margerie told reporters on the sidelines of an oil industry conference here.

The Financial Times newspaper, citing unnamed sources, had reported Tuesday that the US Department of Justice was probing Total's activities amid suspicions the company may have broken US laws against overseas bribes.

The sources told the paper the inquiry was at a preliminary stage and that investigators would seek an informal interview with Margerie.

The Total boss has already been targeted in French corruption probes into the Iraq "oil-for-food" bribes scandal and, more recently, a major gas deal signed by Total in Iran in 1997.

He was put under investigation by a French judge last month after being detained by police on suspicions of "corruption of foreign public agents and misuse of corporate assets," a judicial source told AFP at the time.

Total denies any wrongdoing.

[waldron] 05/4/2007 16:39

Total executive confirms no plan to keep Sanofi-Aventis stake


PARIS (AFX) - Yves-Louis Darricarrere, head of Total's exploration and
production activities, said the oil group does not plan to keep its 13.1 pct
stake in drug manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis, reiterating comments made last year
by Total's finance director.
"The goal is not to remain" in Sanofi-Aventis, Darricarrere said at an oil
conference in Paris.
Total holds 13.1 pct of Sanofi-Aventis' capital and 19 pct of the voting
rights.
Finance director Robert Castaigne had said last year that Total planned to
withdraw steadily from the drug company.
Fellow shareholder L'Oreal also stated recently that it may sell its 10.5
pct holding in Sanofi-Aventis in order to fund acquisitions of luxury cosmetics
brands.

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[waldron] 03/4/2007 21:23

This week in bad energy news
Jeff Sanford
Canadian Business Online, April 2, 2007
This past Thursday the U.S. Government Accountability Office, an independent, non-partisan group that works on behalf of Congress to monitor the programs of the executive branch, released a long awaited report on Peak Oil. The fact that Congress's has released this report should bring some legitimacy to the issue, which revolves around whether there is a looming peak in the production of hydrocarbons, after which output of oil and its fossil-fuel confreres will begin a long decline.

Of course, it's belated confirmation of what many assume already. For those who have been following the issue, there isn't much new in the report. Pushed by Maryland Representative Paul Bartlett, it calls Peak Oil a geological fact and notes that no one disputes the idea, only the timing of the onset of decline (estimates range from now until 2040). The report does confirm that U.S. domestic production peaked in the Lower 48 in 1970 at 10 million barrels, and has since declined to production of just five million barrels, a fact that has forced the US to rely more heavily on foreign oil than ever. The report concludes that there is a chance the onset of hydrocarbon decline will lead to a worldwide depression, and suggests that the U.S. government develop a plan to deal with the issue at the very least.

You don't need a report to realize that there are a lot of interesting shifts taking place within the energy sector. On a recent trip to Belgium, I noticed many of the European papers were closely following a story coming out of France involving an employee of French oil giant Total. It was being reported that Christophe de Margerie, then a senior executive at Total, was charged after an investigation found funds in a Swiss bank account controlled by a secretary of the former were connected to former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Those funds were traced back to Total, and De Margerie is accused of paying a bribe to Iranian officials so that Total could have a stake in the massive South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf. As one of the world's largest natural gas fields, South Pars is a rich resource, and the allegation is that Total bought its way into the development of the field alongside Russia's Gazprom and the Malaysian natural gas firm Petronas. But what else are you going to do in areas of the world where corruption and bribes are common?

In an era when Western oil companies increasingly find themselves on the outside looking in when it comes to access to oil and gas reserves (reserves outside the Mideast are generally running down, something the GAO report confirms), the bare facts of the energy industry are that you've got to get in bed with those who have the resources, no matter what the business practices.

According to a source quoted in the New York Times, the predicament of De Margerie is one that will become more of an issue for the rest of the world's oil companies as reserves outside the Mideast run down. "A lot of oil majors are going to have to move toward Total's model rather than the other way around as they replace volumes from the United States and the North Sea," the analyst was quoted as saying.

The facts of geology and limited hydrocarbon reserves are going to force corporations and governments into a tough decision: Do you cling to your ideals or do you keep the lights on?

It's interesting to note that since the charges surfaced, De Margerie has been promoted to CEO of Total Group, which puts him at the top of the French elite. He is currently negotiating a $10 billion LNG development at South Pars. It's almost as if France has developed a bi-polar condition about what to do about its energy sector. But what choice does it, or any western country, really have?

On the bright side for France, it is one of the most nuclear-dependent nations in terms of electrical generation and isn't as dependent on fossil fuels as, say, the United States. Not surprisingly, the GAO report suggested that because of its huge reliance on large autos and relatively low public transportation, the U.S. will be the most adversely affected by problems arising as a result of peaking oil. Let's hope it gets some kind of plan in place.

One of the most outspoken members of the Peak Oil contingent, Matt Simmons, an author and energy industry investment banker from Houston, was on CNBC last week and called the GAO report an important step forward for the U.S. in dealing with the issue. But that was about all he had to say that was positive. He also talked- a bit alarmingly - about some of the problems brewing in Mexico.

Down at the southern end of the NAFTA geographical area, the 69th anniversary of PEMEX, the Mexican national oil company, was observed. The event is a big one in Mexico, where PEMEX is the pride of a nation and provides 40% of government revenue. The problem, however, is that production at PEMEX fell 2.3% last year, causing the CEO to suggest the company is in "critical condition."

So far the debate has been over what to do about the drop in production and whether the Mexican constitution should be rewritten to allow foreign companies to work on the country's oil assets - something currently against the law, but which might see new technology brought in that could help keep production up. But would even that be enough? According to Simmons, the problem with PEMEX isn't technology; it's really one of Peak Oil.

One of the world's great oil fields is Cantarell, located in the Bay of Campeche (the southernmost area of the Gulf of Mexico), and it has been worked by PEMEX for years. According to Simmons, it's gone into decline. "That's a disaster happening in front of our eyes," said Simmons last week. He mentioned he had been in Mexico the week before and suggested Canterell is down 20% in a year, a frightening prospect. "[Canterell] produces six out of every 10 barrels from our friendliest supplier right across the border," said Simmons. (Let's ignore the diss to Canada there.) "The big discussion in PEMEX is, will the 20% persist or might it ease off to 14%? I raised the issue it might go to 25%."

So it's not just tensions with Iran that are pushing the price of oil. T. Boone Pickens, a famous Texas oil investor, also appeared on television last week and was asked about his outlook on oil prices. He didn't quibble: "I think we'll go to $75 before we go to $55."

Pickens also suggested natural gas could be on its way up thanks to the buildout going on in the ethanol sector. Linking energy and food markets is a radical shift in the economy, any way you measure it. But Pickens was concerned about the strain ethanol will put on natural gas supply. Corn, of course, is an energy-intensive crop. It takes a lot of fertilizer and water to grow it in abundant amounts, and last week the USDA reported that more corn has been planted this year than at any time since 1948. All of that could affect the demand for natural gas. "It's the fuel used to pump the water to irrigate," Pickens said, before concluding: "It's going to be an interesting year in energy."

No kidding.

[waldron] 03/4/2007 18:23

Total CEO goes to Russia for talks with Gazprom over Shtokman partnership


MOSCOW (AFX) - Total CEO Christophe de Margerie met his counterpart at
Gazprom Alexei Miller in Moscow to discuss Total's involvement in the Shtokman
gas field, according to Gazprom.
They discussed partnerships in the gas sector in general, Gazprom said.
"In particular, the two sides discussed the possibility of a partnership
within the framework of the Shtokman gas project," the Russian company said.
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[waldron] 03/4/2007 15:26

Total denies receiving summons from SEC regarding Iran


PARIS (AFX) - French oil group Total denied claims it had received a summons
from US authority to explain its activities in Iran.
Earlier today, French business daily La Tribune reported on its website that
Total had received a summons on March 29 from the US Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC), which wanted to question the group on its business activities
in Iran.
Contacted by Agence France-Presse, a spokesman for Total said "Neither Total
nor any of its managers have received a summons from the SEC or from the
Department of Justice."
The spokesman also said that Total had indicated in its 2004 annual report
that the SEC was conducting an investigation into all oil groups operating in
Iran, including Total.
In March, Total confirmed that its chief executive Christophe de Margerie
has been formally charged as part of an investigation into alleged corruption in
a gas contract in Iran.
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[gateside] 01/4/2007 20:25

FRom THe Irish Independant

Total 'to double' in five years

Friday March 30th 2007

TOTAL Produce, the fresh fruit arm which has been spun off from Fyffes at the end of last year yesterday said that it plans to double the size of its business within the next five years.

Headed by Carl McCann, Total Produce also produced its first set of full year figures which show that basic earnings per share were 5.7c and that fully diluted earnings per share came in at 2c, compared to 3.78c the previous year.

Mr McCann said the strategy is to expand the business organically and by acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances.

Acquisitions

"The group, through its banking facilities and stock market quotation, has the resources to grow substantially by medium and large scale acquisitions.

"The ambition is to double turnover over the next five years," he said.

Analysts said that as the figures had been included in those released last week for Fyffes, there were no surprises.

Goodbody Stockbrokers analyst Liam Igoe said that based on the basic earnings per share of 5.7c, he is predicting a target earnings per share of 6c next year.

He expects a dividend payout ratio of between 25pc and 30pc of that.

Fyffes said it envisages a likely dividend payment of between 1.5c and 1.75c in respect of 2007 "subject to operating cash flows, capital and acquisition commitments."

Trading

He said the target is for earnings growth in the current year was in the "mid-single digit range", and that trading in the first two months of the year has been in line with expectations.

[grupo guitarlumber] 30/3/2007 07:19

Friday, March 30, 2007. Issue 3626. Page 5.
Total Fined Over Safety Violations
Bloomberg
French oil major Total has received a fine of 30,000 rubles ($1,150) for ignoring safety violations at its Kharyaga project. Environmental regulators are seeking to revoke its license in a separate audit.

Total's Russian unit failed to plan how to use petroleum gas pumped from the oil field, gain permits to work with explosive substances or provide proof of two managers' qualifications, the industrial safety agency said in a statement Thursday. The fine was the maximum possible.

The managers must be suspended until they prove they are sufficiently qualified to work at "dangerous" sites, the agency said.

Environmental regulators from the Natural Resources Ministry called on the government to revoke Total's license to Kharyaga for producing less than one-third of the oil required under its license and burning off, or flaring, most of its petroleum gas. The regulators finished their inspection Wednesday, said Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of the service.

Total received preliminary results last week, spokesman Paul Floren said Thursday. He was not immediately able to comment on the final audit.

Kharyaga is Total's only major project in Russia. Rosneft denied Total a stake in the Vankor field last year and Novatek, the country's second-largest natural gas producer, decided against selling shares to the oil major in 2005. Total is in talks to join Gazprom's Shtokman gas project in the Arctic.

[grupo guitarlumber] 29/3/2007 09:22

The 2007 financial calendar is presented below :

2007 Event

April 4 Individual shareholders' Meeting in Lille
May 4 First Quarter 2007 Results
May 11 2007 Annual Meeting of Shareholders
June 6 Individual shareholders' Meeting in Metz
August 2 Second Quarter & First Half 2007 Results
September 5 2007 Mid-Year Review
October 16 Individual shareholders' Meeting in Tours
November 7 Third Quarter 2007 Results
November 16 & 17 Actionaria Investor Fair in Paris
November 27 Individual shareholders' Meeting in Grenoble

[waldron] 27/3/2007 08:44

Bribery accusations follow new Total chief
By Craig S. Smith

Monday, March 26, 2007
PARIS: It was not the most auspicious of starts for Christophe de Margerie, the new chief executive of Total.

Last week, de Margerie, who is of aristocratic lineage and an heir to the Tattinger Champagne empire, was formally placed under investigation on suspicion of paying bribes to win a huge gas project in Iran.

He was held overnight Wednesday before being released Thursday after additional questioning at the Palace of Justice here.

Total, the biggest corporation in France and one of the world's largest energy companies, insists that its chief executive is innocent and that the company abided by all "applicable law" in winning the Iranian gas concession.

But that is not necessarily saying much because bribes paid abroad were tax deductible in France until 1997 and not totally outlawed until 2000.

"Unfortunately, this sort of corruption has become an epidemic in Africa and the Middle East," said Nicolas Sarkis, director of the Arab Center for Petroleum Studies in Paris.

The story started in 1971 when Qatar discovered the world's largest gas field deep beneath the seas of the Gulf. Political instability kept Iran from exploring its own waters until the late 1980s when it found that the gas field extended into its territory, too.

Iran laid out a multiphase development plan for its share of the gas field, which it known as South Pars, or South Persia. Iran's national oil company embarked on the first phase, but the others phases have gradually been contracted to foreigners.

The alleged bribes concern phases 2 and 3, which were awarded to Total in 1997. It has since invested $2 billion in the project with its partners, Gazprom of Russia and Petronas of Malaysia, building two offshore drilling platforms that are linked by more than 160 kilometers, or 100 miles, of pipeline to a vast processing complex in the desert near Asalouyeh, Iran. It is one of the largest natural gas projects in the Middle East.

With a lack of oil in France, the company has built its business chasing development projects in remote corners of the world, from deep off the Angolan coast or in Nigerian mangrove swamps, to the scorching Libyan desert or below the rough North Sea. Total now conducts exploration and production operations in 44 countries.

The aggressive, far-reaching strategy has paid off. Its success at finding hydrocarbons nearly doubled the company's reserves between 2004 and 2006.

Today, Total is the world's fastest-growing major oil company and estimates that its oil and gas output will increase 5 percent a year through 2010. It is the top foreign oil producer in Africa and the one of the biggest in the Middle East. It is also the second-biggest producer, after Shell, of liquefied natural gas.

"A lot of the oil majors actually are going to have to move towards Total's model rather than the other way around as they replace volumes from the United States and the North Sea," said Jon Rigby, an oil analyst with UBS in London. "Total already has built a significantly differently shaped portfolio to the other majors."

The foray into Iran was the work of de Margerie, who was in charge of Total's business in the Middle East in the 1990s.

At the time, he was looking for ways to tap into the giant energy reserves of Iran and Iraq - both of which had been neglected after years of war and sanctions. Despite the political difficulties and hazardous environment, the countries were hard to ignore for oil executives: together, they hold more than 20 percent of the world's proven oil reserves.

A bankrupt Iran was anxious to develop its energy sector and attract foreign investors to its oil and gas industry, which was in tatters after the war against Iraq. Initially, Iran turned to Conoco, a U.S. company, but its overture was vetoed by then-President Bill Clinton, under pressure from the U.S. Congress. This opened the door to European companies, including Total.

But big business in parts of the Middle East is notoriously corrupt and the oil industry has a reputation for playing along with the game. There was little surprise within the industry, therefore, when allegations of bribery involving the South Pars concessions first surfaced in 2003.

In that case, officials at Norway's big oil company, Statoil, said that they agreed to pay more than $15 million in "consulting fees" to Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of the five children of the former Iranian president, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, in order to win contracts to develop the offshore platforms in phases 6, 7 and 8 of South Pars.

After the company had paid $5.2 million on the contract, the deal was leaked to the press, eventually forcing the resignations of the Statoil chairman and chief executive, Leif Terje Loeddesoel and Olav Fjell. Late last year, the company paid $21 million in fines to the U.S. Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission to settle the case. Statoil is subject to U.S. law because its shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

During the Norwegian investigation, Statoil executives said the fees paid to Rafsanjani were based on a contract that he said had been used with other multinational oil companies, suggesting that Statoil was not alone.

In December 2004, Swiss police were notified that 9.5 million Swiss francs, or $7.8 million, had been transferred to an account opened under the name Siakal at the Geneva branch of the Swiss bank Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch. The account was controlled by an Iranian living in Switzerland named Bijan Dadfar, who the French media have since reported was an employee of the younger Rafsanjani.

Swiss authorities in Lausanne began a money laundering investigation and investigators traced the money back to Total, according to people familiar with the investigation, and discovered that the company had deposited tens of millions of Swiss francs into the account from 1999 to 2003.

In December last year the prosecutor in Lausanne, Switzerland, Patrick Lamon, responded to requests for information on the case from French investigative magistrate Philippe Courroye, who had already questioned de Margerie in a separate matter. In October, Courroye held de Margerie for two days in an investigation about the United Nations' oil-for-food program in Iraq, used by Saddam Hussein to skim billions of dollars in illegal fees.

The information that Lamon sent Courroye triggered the new French investigation.

Despite the cloud hanging over de Margerie, who is nicknamed "big moustache," Total named him chief executive Feb. 13.

Last week, he was finally summoned by police and spent Wednesday night in custody before being transferred to Courroye's office for questioning.

The head of Total's gas affiliate, Philippe Boisseau; the executive formerly responsible to the Pars South project, Michel Naylies; and another executive of the group, Patrick Rambaud, were also questioned.

Courroye later announced that he was placing de Margerie under formal investigation, one step short of indictment.

But people at Total note that such investigations often remain open for years until they are forgotten and then quietly closed.

The company issued a statement last week expressing its confidence that this one will eventually show that it did not engage in any illegal activities and saying that it "adheres to a strict code of conduct regardless of the difficulties linked to its activities and the environments in which it operates."

But the investigation has not helped the image of Total, already besmirched by a corruption scandal at Elf, a company that is now merged into Total, and an ongoing trial over the 1999 sinking of the oil tanker Erika, which led to the worst environmental disaster in French history.

Meanwhile, de Margerie's double bet in Iraq and Iran has largely unraveled. The war in Iraq means it will take many more years before the country's huge reserves are developed and, even then, U.S. companies are likely to be in better shape to step in than the French oil giant.

[waldron] 26/3/2007 08:25

European Commodity Stocks Climb; Volkswagen, Barclays Decline

By Andreas Hippin

March 26 (Bloomberg) -- European commodity stocks advanced, led by Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total SA and BHP Billiton, as prices of oil and metals gained. Benchmarks in the region were little changed.

Volkswagen AG fell after Porsche AG raised its stake in the region's largest carmaker for less than the market value of the shares. George Wimpey Plc and Taylor Woodrow Plc surged after the companies said they planned to merge to create Britain's biggest homebuilder in an all-stock deal.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index dropped less than 0.1 percent to 375.88 as of 9:11 a.m. in London. The Stoxx 50 and the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the 13 nations sharing the euro, both declined 0.2 percent.

European stocks posted the biggest gain in four years last week as takeover speculation intensified in the auto, utility and media industries.

``The market is taking a breather after an extremely strong week,'' said Carsten Klude, who helps manage the equivalent of $20 billion as head of investment strategies at M.M. Warburg & Co. in Hamburg. ``The positive environment for stocks hasn't changed. Valuations are still reasonable.''

National benchmarks fell in eight of the 18 western European markets. The U.K.'s FTSE 100, France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX all slid 0.1 percent.

Shell, the region's biggest oil company by market value, rose 0.8 percent to 1,689 pence. Total, Europe's largest refiner, gained 0.9 percent to 52.15 euros.

Oil, Copper Gain

Crude oil rose to the highest in three months as Iran's detention of 15 British sailors and the UN's decision to tighten sanctions against the country heightened concern that Middle East supplies may be disrupted.

Oil for May delivery climbed as much as 61 cents, or 1 percent, to $62.89 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since Dec. 26. It was at $62.85 at 3.33 p.m. in Singapore.

[ariane] 23/3/2007 08:17

Total S.A Judicial Interviews Completed


RNS Number:5768T
Total S.A.
23 March 2007


South Pars Iran : Judicial interviews of Total employees completed


Paris, March 22, 2007 - Total confirms that the interviews of Robert Castaigne,
Chief Financial Officer of Total and Philippe Boisseau, Executive Vice President
Gas & Power, with investigators of the French financial police (BRDE) were
completed in the evening of March 21, 2007. Neither has been charged with any
offence.

After being held for questioning, Mr. Christophe de Margerie, Chief Executive
Officer of Total, has left the judge's office after being placed under formal
investigation in proceedings related to a judicial investigation, initiated in
December 2006. This investigation is related to the development of the South
Pars project in Iran, for which Total entered into agreements with the National
Iranian Oil Company (NIOC)in 1997.

Once again, the Group expresses its full support for its employees and confirms
that the agreements for the development of the South Pars project were entered
into in compliance with applicable law.

The Group is confident in its belief that the investigation will establish the
absence of any illegal activities and reaffirms that Total adheres to a strict
code of conduct regardless of the difficulties linked to its activities and the
environments in which it operates.

Total is one of the world's major oil and gas groups, with activities in more
than 130 countries. Its 95,000 employees put their expertise to work in every
part of the industry - exploration and production of oil and natural gas,
refining and marketing, gas trading and electricity. Total is working to keep
the world supplied with energy, both today and tomorrow. The Group is also a
first rank player in chemicals. www.total.com


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

MSCEAXDDADAXEEE

[waldron] 23/3/2007 06:47

Total CEO charged in corruption probe over Iran gas contract


PARIS (AFX) - Total confirmed last night that chief executive Christophe de
Margerie has been formally charged as part of an investigation into alleged
corruption in a gas contract in Iran.
"At the end of his custody, Mr Christophe de Margerie left the office of the
judge after being charged in relation to an investigation against persons
unknown launched in December 2006 concerning the South Pars Industrial project
in Iran, signed by Total in 1997 with NIOCC (National Iranian Oil Company)," the
French group said in a press release.
Total gave no further details of the specific charges but added that it is
"confident that the courts will establish that no offences have been committed."
The oil company also confirmed that financial director Robert Castaigne and
Philippe Boiseau, head of the Gaz Electricite unit, were released from custody
on Wednesday evening without being charged.
Christophe de Margerie had remained in custody overnight from Wednesday to
Thursday in order to be questioned further about his role in the Iranian gas
contract as finance director for the Middle East at the time of the events.
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[waldron] 22/3/2007 18:34

Russian watchdog says Total fails to fulfill licensing agreement
14:10 | 22/ 03/ 2007



MOSCOW, March 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's environmental and technological watchdog said France's Total oil company has failed to meet terms of a licensing agreement on a lucrative oil field in northern Russia.

The regulator, which launched a second probe into Total's compliance with technological and environmental requirements at the Kharyaga oil field March 12, said the license could be revoked.

"The Federal Service for the Oversight of Natural Resources has conducted a repeat check and established that Total has corrected none of the violations," said Sergei Fyodorov, who is in charge of geological development and mineral resources management in the Natural Resources Ministry.

Late last year, the regulator initiated license revocation discussions on Kharyaga after discovering that the operator had failed to follow field development recommendations, including the gas drive recovery process, burning up 60% of the natural gas produced in 2005.

"The company has violated the technical agreement and failed to meet production targets, and it does not properly dispose of gas but burns it off," Fyodorov said, adding that the materials of the inspection would be submitted to a commission for early license revocation.

In April, the Natural Resources Ministry accused Total of failing to increase production of crude and introduce new technologies and equipment for effective production since the 1995 production-sharing agreement (PSA) came into force in 1999.

Total owns a 50% stake in the project, alongside Norway's Hydro (40%) and Russia's Nenets Oil Company (10%).

The Kharyaga field, with total reserves of 160.4 million metric tons, is one of three production-sharing agreements in Russia. The other two are Sakhalin I and Sakhalin II.

This month, an inspection into alleged environmental violations will begin on the Sakhalin I oil and gas project off Russia's Pacific coast, operated by U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil.

Months of pressure last year on another vast hydrocarbon project in the Far East, Sakhalin II, regarded by experts as the Kremlin's drive to regain control of the country's mineral resources, culminated in the purchase by state-controlled energy giant Gazprom of 50% plus one share in the project from Shell and other companies involved.

Another hydrocarbon operator in Russia, TNK-BP, received a warning from Russian authorities in early February that it could be stripped of its license for the giant Kovykta natural gas deposit in East Siberia over failure to meet its obligations to supply nearby areas with gas. The Russian-British joint venture was given three months to rectify the situation.

[grupo guitarlumber] 21/3/2007 09:29

Total CEO questioned by police in corruption probe - source


PARIS (AFX) - Total SA chief executive Christophe de Margerie will today be
questioned by French police from the financial department as part of an inquiry
into suspected corruption in Iran and Cameroon, a source close to the matter
said.
The source, confirming a report in regional daily l'Est Republicain, told
Agence France-Presse that police acting under the orders of investigating judge
Philippe Courroye will question Margerie over suspected bribery over a gas
contract in Iran.
Nobody at Total was immediately available to comment.
The paper said police have also summoned Total's finance director Robert
Castaigne, personnel director Jean-Jacques Guilbaud and the head of its gas
business, Philippe Boisseau.
In December, sources close to the proceedings revealed that Margerie had
been placed under investigation in a wide probe into suspected illegal
commissions to gain preferential treatment for Total abroad.
Courroye was brought in to investigate the affair in Aug 2002 after being
approached by Tracfin, the French finance ministry's anti-corruption agency.
During 2005, prosecutors started to investigate the possibility that the
company had bypassed the oil embargo imposed by the UN on Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
AFP's source also said police will question Margerie today over suspicions
of bribery of public officials in Cameroon as part of a probe launched in
January following a fresh alert by Tracfin.


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afp/mrg/jfr

[hillbrown] 18/3/2007 19:45

Seems like 9.5% of the shares changed hands on Friday. Should be an announcement coming up.