Total Produce Share Discussion Threads

[grupo guitarlumber] 04/8/2006 05:24

Total May Buy Stake in Inpex's $6 Billion LNG Project (Update1)
Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Total SA, Europe's third-biggest oil producer, may buy a stake in Inpex Holdings Inc.'s $6 billion liquefied natural gas project in Australia as prices of the cleaner-burning fuel soar, officials at both companies said.

Total is in talks with Tokyo-based Inpex and may sign an agreement this month to buy 25 percent of the so-called Ichthys project, said the officials, who asked not to be identified because the accord hasn't been signed.

Inpex plans to tap Total's expertise deployed at ventures such as Yemen LNG and to share costs at Ichthys. Paris-based Total wants increased LNG sales in Japan, Korea and China as they reduce reliance on crude oil imports from the Middle East. Total Chief Executive Thierry Desmarest in June said ``LNG is the best answer'' to global energy needs.

``Scale of profit from the project is expected to be large, as the proposed plant's size is world class,'' Shigeki Matsumoto, an analyst at Nomura Securities Co. in Tokyo, said by phone. ``Selection of a project partner is one step to push ahead.''

Patricia Marie, a spokeswoman for Total in Paris, and Inpex spokesman Kazuya Honda declined to comment.

Osaka Gas Co., Japan's second-biggest gas distributor, last month said it's in talks with Inpex on joining the Ichthys project. Tokyo Electric Power Co., Asia's biggest power producer, may buy LNG from Ichthys, it said in June.

Chilled Liquid

LNG is natural gas that has been cooled to liquid form for transportation by ship to markets beyond the reach of pipelines. Import terminals return the LNG to gas form so that it can be sent through pipelines to customers such as factories, power stations and households.

Total is in negotiations to buy the stake in the Ichthys field, 850 kilometers (528 miles) west of Darwin, and a proposed gas liquefaction plant, the officials said. Ichthys holds an estimated 9.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Japan, the world's biggest market for LNG, is competing with the U.S. and China for supplies as global demand surges. The switch to gas has been prompted by slowing discoveries of new oilfields demand from power producers seeking a cleaner-burning fuel than coal or oil.

Japan's utilities are looking to gas projects in Australia and Russia to help make up for declining shipments from Indonesia, the world's largest LNG exporter.

French Connection

Ties between Total and Inpex date back four decades. Total has led development of Indonesia's Mahakam offshore block since 1970, when it acquired half of the rights from Inpex, according to Inpex's Web site.

Inpex, formerly a unit of disbanded, state-run Japan National Oil Corp., two years ago became the vehicle for Japan's biggest overseas oil and gas drilling assets.

Total and Inpex produce 2.6 billion cubic feet of gas a day from Mahakam in East Kalimantan, to supply PT Badak NGL, the world's largest LNG plant. Indonesia exported 14.3 million tons to Japan in the year ended March 31, accounting for 25 percent of Japan's imports of 58 million tons, according to Japan's Ministry of Finance.

Indonesia has failed in the past three years to meet commitments to supply customers in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan as falling reserves cut natural gas supplies to its LNG plants.

Inpex also plans to build a plant to produce 100,000 barrels a year of combined condensate and liquefied petroleum gas from Ichthys. Commercial operations are due to start in the middle of 2012. In May, the company began seeking environmental approval to develop the offshore field in an area known as WA-285-P Block in the Browse Basin.

Total Profit

Total yesterday posted a smaller increase in second-quarter profit than analysts expected after rebel attacks in Nigeria and the seizure of fields in Venezuela and Bolivia curbed production. Profit climbed 15 percent to 3.36 billion euros ($4.3 billion). Inpex is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings on Aug. 9.

Total's Desmarest reported a 9 percent drop in output for the period, worse than European competitors BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. The shares had their biggest decline since June 13 as Total said the second quarter was the company's ``low point'' in production.

Japanese Trade Minister Toshihiro Nikai and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Aug. 2 agreed the two countries should improve investment opportunities including for energy projects, according to Minemasa Suehiro, director of the trade ministry's Southwest Asia and Oceania division.

``Australia will perhaps be a reliable gas supplier, as Indonesia is losing its reputation,'' said Hidetoshi Shioda, a senior analyst at Mizuho Securities Co. in Tokyo. ``For Inpex, the Ichthys project will be good for its track record and bring more opportunities its way to invest in Australian LNG projects.''



To contact the reporters on this story:
Shigeru Sato in Tokyo at [e-mail];
Megumi Yamanaka in Tokyo at [e-mail].
Last Updated: August 3, 2006 21:31 EDT

[grupo guitarlumber] 31/7/2006 08:08

Ocean Power Tech wins contract to build wave power station in northern Spain

LONDON (AFX) - Ocean Power Technologies Inc said it has signed an
engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build the next phase
of a 1.25 MegaWatt OPT wave power station off the coast of the Cantabria region
in northern Spain.
The EPC contract will produce revenues for OPT next month and will
contribute to earnings in the first half of the 2007 financial year, the six
months to Oct 31 2006.
A special purpose company, with renewable energies utility Iberdrola SA as
its major shareholder, has been established in Spain to purchase the power
station from OPT.
Other shareholders of the new company include Total SA, OPT, the industrial
development agency of the Spanish region of Cantabria, and the energy agency of
the government of Spain, which all signed a joint development agreement, Ocean
Power said.
Completion of the power station's initial stage should lead to the
installation of hundreds of megawatts of OPT's PowerBuoy wave energy farms off
the northern coast of Spain over the next several years.
The EPC contract takes immediate effect with the order of long lead items
and the release of the steel fabrication sub-contract to a local Spanish
supplier.
[e-mail]
gp/vjt

[ariane] 09/7/2006 06:43

$1.3bn legal blow for investors as Rosneft comes to market
More controversy for Russian giant as Total damages claims overshadow this week's float in London and Moscow
By Tim Webb
Published: 09 July 2006
Russian oil giant Rosneft, whose controversial flotation takes place this week, faces $1.3bn (£700m) worth of legal claims from French company Total over a disputed joint venture.

The row is over the huge Vankor fields in East Siberia, which make up around 15 per cent of Rosneft's total estimated commercial reserves.

The dispute could scare off China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), which is interested in buying a stake in Rosneft. It is thought that CNPC will buy shares only if it is given a stake in one of Rosneft's fields, with Vankor high on its shopping list.

The float has already been tarnished by a $14bn claim from Russian rival Yukos. But the emergence of legal action from a Western company will mire the deal in still greater controversy. It will also embarrass the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, who meets the heads of the G8, including France, at a summit in Moscow next weekend.

In 2002, Total signed agreements to buy majority stakes in the Rosneft subsidiaries that hold the licences for the 264sq km Vankor fields.

But Rosneft terminated the option agreements, arguing that they were void because Total failed to meet unspecified conditions. Total filed its first claim in a United Nations arbitration court in Brussels in 2004, demanding its share in one of the licences, or $640m in damages. A decision is expected this month.

In 2005, Total filed another claim in the arbitration court over two other Rosneft subsidiaries involved in the Vankor fields, seeking either stakes in the companies or $709m in damages. According to Rosneft's listing pros-pectus, final hearings on this claim are scheduled for Tuesday. "An award of damages could adversely affect Rosneft's financial condition," the document says.

Rosneft, which is contesting the claims, has not made any provisions for any damages that it may have to pay.

The company, which will raise around $10bn from its partial flotation in London and Moscow, has a valuation range of between $60bn and $80bn. On Tuesday, Rosneft will announce the final valuation figure. "Grey trading" in the shares will begin on Friday ahead of its formal debut on 17 July.

Yukos was forced to sell its main subsidiary for a fraction of its true value to pay a back-tax bill 18 months ago. The unit was bought by Rosneft amid allegations of state-sponsored theft.

Yukos has written to the Financial Services Authority asking the City watchdog to block the flotation, which it says involves the sale of "stolen goods".

[ariane] 28/6/2006 15:28

Total "buy," estimates raised

Wednesday, June 28, 2006 7:44:53 AM ET
Merrill Lynch

LONDON, June 28 (newratings.com) - Analysts at Merrill Lynch maintain their "buy" rating on Total (PFP.PSE), while raising their estimates for the company. The target price is set to €58.75.

In a research note published this morning, the analysts mention that the company's E&P growth is likely to accelerate through 2H06/07. Total's longer-term upstream portfolio appears healthy and the company's distribution potential seems attractive, the analysts say. The EPS estimates for 2006 and 2007 have been raised from €5.72 to €5.88 and from €5.08 to €5.99, respectively.

[ariane] 24/6/2006 06:53

News : International Last Updated: Jun 23rd, 2006 - 09:14:40

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Global Gas Flaring: Wasteful burn-off is equal to 30% of the EU's annual gas consumption
By Finfacts Team
Jun 23, 2006, 09:01


The World Bank says that each year about 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas goes up in smoke.

That's equal to a quarter of all the gas used in the United States in a year, 30 percent of the European Union's yearly gas consumption, or 75 per cent of Russia's gas exports.


Source: World Bank


The burning of natural gas – known as flaring – has traditionally been viewed as a safe and effective way of getting rid of excess natural gas that comes with oil production.

But it's a practice which the World Bank says adds to the globe's greenhouse gas emissions and also leads to the wasting of a valuable energy resource.

As an example of the waste, the World Bank's Bent Svensson cites the case of Africa.

"If you take the gas which is flared in Africa, which is only around 40 billion cubic meters each year and if you used that to generate power in efficient modern power plants, you could actually double the power production in Sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa" he says.


Public-Private Partnership

Svensson is the Bank's Manager of the Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR) - a public private partnership initiated by the Bank in August 2002 with the aim of assisting governments and companies in their efforts to reduce the amount of gas burnt or flared around the world.

The partnership includes representatives from governments of oil producing countries, as well as all the major international oil companies and state owned enterprises.


Chart: Global Gas Consumption vs Global Gas Flaring
"Reducing gas flaring requires a global and concerted effort by governments and industry, as well as financial institutions and local communities," says Rashad Kaldany, Director of the Oil, Gas, Mining and Chemicals Department at the World Bank Group and Chairman of the GGFR Steering Committee.

This week, representatives of that partnership will meet in Washington DC with the aim of extending their work beyond this year. The move follows a joint statement by the Group of Eight major industrialized countries at Gleneagles, Scotland, in July 2005, calling for the partnership to continue its work.


"The GGFR Partnership is helping us to promote associated gas as an opportunity rather than a fatality," says Bernard Legris, technical advisor for the oil company, Total SA. "This is a crucial step to understand that valorizing associated gas requires a change of mind, it means evolving from the age of oil to the age of gas."

Climate Change Impact

It's a sign of the consensus which has now emerged around the need to reduce flaring or burning of gas – not the least because of its impact on climate change.

"Historically gas has been burnt off when it's produced with oil," Svensson explains. "It's normal in oil production that you have gas associated with the oil in the oil field. But in recent years, more emphasis has been put on the need to avoid wasting resources and the environment."

"In terms of climate change, the 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas which is flared each year, has a substantial impact," he adds.

Svensson says it's estimated if carbon dioxide emissions from gas flaring were stopped, that would be equal to about 13 percent of the total amount countries have pledged to reduce emissions under the Kyoto Protocol for the period 2008-2012.

Key Obstacles

But a key obstacle to reduce the amount of gas flared is the lack of infrastructure and available markets for the associated gas.

"Large amounts of oil are produced in remote areas and often it's offshore far from any potential markets for the gas and infrastructure is the key to utilize this gas. So what we do is we work with the industry, with the governments to facilitate investments in this infrastructure," Svensson says.

The GGFR partnership aims to create a framework so investments can take place, as the Partnership itself does not have the funds to invest in infrastructure such as pipelines, but instead relies on the private companies to do the investments.

But Svensson says there are several other obstacles.

"First of all there's often contractual regulatory issues related to the utilization of this gas. In old petroleum contracts, it's often not clear who owns the gas and therefore who can utilize it.

"Often these can be economically marginal projects so we are working with the industry and the governments to improve the economics of these projects. And the tools that we have been looking into include carbon credit financing in order to help these projects become more viable."

In brief, the success and viability of gas flaring reduction projects depend on having the right conditions and incentives such as fiscal incentives, investments in infrastructure, markets availability, appropriate regulations that enable gas utilization, and political will.

Results on the Ground

In just under four years, Svensson says the partnership has already achieved results on the ground – starting with the membership of the partnership.

"If you look around the world today gas flaring is focused in relatively few countries, and we have most of these few countries as members. We cover more than 50% of the world's gas flaring in our partnership and the OPEC secretariat is also a partner and through them we get access to another 25 percent of the gas flaring countries."

And Svensson says members of the partnership have already agreed to a global standard for reducing gas flaring which he says "is probably our biggest single achievement."

He says 17 demonstration projects have also been set up in partner countries. "These projects are of two kinds. One is commercialization projects where we facilitate stakeholder engagement of various parties in order to make the projects viable.

"The other area is in carbon financing where we try, with the partners, to develop ways for gas flaring reduction projects to make them eligible to obtain carbon credits."

Svensson says the aim of this week's Steering Committee meeting will be to evaluate the results achieved so far and plan ahead for the next three years, in a bid to bring in new partners to significantly reduce the amount of gas burned around the world.

For more information on the GGFR Partnership, visit: www.worldbank.org/ggfr




source: 2006 by Finfacts.com

[grupo guitarlumber] 06/6/2006 06:50

Venezuela raises back-tax bill for Statoil, Total, PDVSA alliance to 1 mln usd

CARACAS (AFX) - The tax authority said it has amended the back taxes it is
demanding from Sincor - comprising Total, Statoil and state-owned company
Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) - to 1.023.720 mln usd from the prevuiously
imposed 697.674 usd.
In March, Venezuela demanded the back taxes as part of a fiscal crackdown on
mostly foreign energy companies.
Since mid-2005, the government of leftist President Hugo Chavez has strictly
applied a 2001 law that increases the tax rate for oil companies to 50 pct from
36 pct.
Sincor, of which Total controls 47 pct and PDVSA 38 pct, has 25 days to pay
up.
[e-mail]
afp/lam

[waldron] 03/6/2006 17:27

May 31, 2006 06:00 AM US Eastern Timezone
Zacks Analyst Interview Highlights: TOTAL, ENI S.p.A., Syngenta and Monsanto
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 31, 2006--Zacks.com releases the latest Analyst Interview. Today's interview is with equity research analyst Santiago Burgaleta, who discusses TOTAL (NYSE:TOT), ENI S.p.A. (NYSE:E), Syngenta (NYSE:SYT) and Monsanto (NYSE:MON).


A synopsis of today's Analyst Interview is presented below. The full article can be read at

How are high oil prices affecting Europe? Is it similar to what Americans are experiencing?

Recent inflation figures stood at 2.1% for Euro-land, in-line with expectations, so the recent rise in oil prices has not hit inflation numbers as the recent sell-off in Euro-equities suggest. Although this is obviously above the European Central Bank (ECB) target, we generally think that an inflationary spiral is not starting in Europe. The impact of higher oil prices has been more pronounced in some sectors, such as Consumer Staples, but so far it is not spreading over the entire economic system. ECB's rhetoric suggests they are being pretty vigilant on this issue.

How about the performance of European oil companies?

TOTAL (NYSE:TOT) and ENI S.p.A. (NYSE:E) are direct beneficiaries of higher oil prices, although their multiples have compressed a bit. Some investors are probably taking some money from oil companies, discounting lower oil prices going forward. We believe it is too premature to talk about this, however, and we are still buyers of TOTAL.

Are European crop-based companies such as Syngenta (NYSE:SYT) benefiting from the new excitement about ethanol?

Syngenta has some exposure to the current ethanol boom, but it is too early to suggest ethanol sales will impact Syngenta's revenue. Management has not made any comments regarding any future plans to increase its exposure to ethanol. We believe the stock has been moving on news flow regarding the victory in a lawsuit against Monsanto on patents for making corn resistant to Monsanto's (NYSE: MON) Roundup herbicide. This could be a good catalyst to narrow the valuation gap between the two companies, which is still exaggerated, in our opinion.

Read the full interview at

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[waldron] 29/5/2006 11:07

Total says any sales of Sanofi shares won't happen before 2007 for tax reasons

PARIS (AFX) - Total SA, which has a roughly 13 pct stake in Sanofi-Aventis
SA, said any selling it does of those shares would not occur before 2007 for tax
reasons, but denied telling analysts at a recent road show that it would start
selling the stock in 2007.
A source close to the matter, however, said Total's long-term plan is to
sell the stake depending on cash needs or other factors, but that "there is no
urgency to sell it."
Following the recent Total roadshow, a report from analysts at Credit
Agricole brokerage unit Cheuvreux today said: "As of next year, Total will start
gradually disposing of its stake in Sanofi-Synthelabo again" due to changes in
French capital gains taxes. The name was Sanofi's name prior to its merger with
Aventis.
"We never said we were going to sell in 2007, and we never said we weren't
going to sell in 2007. In our opinion there is potential for the stock. For tax
reasons we wouldn't sell before 2007," a Total spokesman said.
[e-mail]
mjs/ks

[waldron] 18/5/2006 17:46

Paris shares close lower after late slide tracking Wall St UPDATE

(updates with full report)
PARIS (AFX) - Shares closed lower after following Wall Street into negative
territory late in the session, ending an earlier rally driven by bargain-hunting
in the wake of yesterday's sharp correction, dealers said.
The CAC-40 index closed 11.62 points or 0.24 pct lower at 4,908.69, on heavy
volume of 7.69 bln eur.
Of the CAC-40 stocks, 22 finished the session down, 17 were up and one was
unchanged.
On the Matif, May CAC-40 futures were 36.0 points higher at 4,918.0.
On the broader indices, the SBF-80 closed down 88.94 points or 0.44 pct at
5,571.96, and the SBF-120 closed down 15.64 points or 0.44 pct at 3,555.05.
The euro was quoted at 1.2815 usd, compared with 1.2747 usd late yesterday.
Credit Agricole extended yesterday's 6.4 pct drop to close down a further
1.12 eur or 3.62 pct at 29.85. The share was downgraded to 'hold' from 'buy' at
Deutsche Bank in the wake of yesterday's solid first-quarter results, on the
risks the bank could acquire pursuing its expansion strategy.
Arcelor ended 0.85 eur or 2.59 pct lower at 32.00 eur, off a morning low of
31.21, after Mittal Steel's hostile takeover offer officially opened this
morning.
Electricite de France shares were volatile over the session, finishing 1.16
eur or 2.75 pct lower at 41.09.
Technology stocks slipped after rallying over midsession, Capgemini ended
down 0.24 eur or 0.57 pct at 41.58, Thales dropped 0.16 eur or 0.51 pct to 31.00
while STMicroelectronics closed 0.04 eur or 0.31 eur lower at 12.80. EADS
started sliding again after yesterday's respite from a heavy market correction
in earlier sessions, losing a further 0.21 eur or 0.76 pct at 27.59.
Vivendi shares erased early gains as speculation of a break-up bid for the
company continued to circulate to finish unchanged at 27.75.
"When you've got someone who wants to break up the company, and who is
talking about a price of 33.5 eur, I think it's a clear case that the stock is
undervalued," said one trader.
On the upside, some shares benefited from bargain-hunting in the wake of the
sell-off seen over the last week. LVMH led the CAC-40 risers, gaining 2.40 eur
or 3.21 pct to 77.15, after a six-session run of losses, while Vinci added 1.45
eur or 1.92 pct to 76.95, and L'Oreal picked up 1.05 eur or 1.55 pct to 68.90.
Societe Generale rose 1.50 eur or 1.31 pct to 116.00 after posting
better-than-expected first-quarter net profit driven by investment banking
earnings.
Peugeot gained 0.25 eur or 0.50 pct to close at 50.05 after an upgrade to
'over-weight' from 'equal-weight' at Lehman Brothers, which sees an opportunity
for the French automaker to reverse its sector underperformance over the last
year. Sector peer Renault added 0.85 eur or 0.98 pct to 87.40.
On the second line, the former chemicals division of Total, Arkema, began
trading as a separate company today. The shares sharply rose to end 5.25 eur or
19.44 pct higher to 32.25, from a reference price of 27 eur.
Technip plunged 4.46 eur or 9.96 pct at 40.34. First quarter profits
released this morning were in line with forecasts, but CEO Daniel Valot warned
that reaching the full year operating profit target of 340 mln eur would be
"challenging."
Iliad dropped 4.30 eur or 6.06 pct to 66.70.
Vallourec stock dropped 57.50 eur or 5.91 pct to close at 884.00 as recent
equity market weakness prompt investors to take profits from the stock's massive
surge since the beginning of this year.
Legrand was down 1.15 eur or 4.72 pct to 23.00 after Morgan Stanley
initiated coverage of the stock at 'equal-weight' with a 22.6 eur target price.
Morgan Stanley said the group is an exceptional business by any standard, but
noted the stock has rallied by 24 pct since the April IPO.
Euronext rose 3.80 eur or 5.67 pct to 70.80 after it said that merger
discussions are "progressing rapidly with a number of parties" amid ongoing
consolidation among the stock market operators.
[e-mail]
rg/jfr

[waldron] 18/5/2006 09:16

Paris shares AFX market data at 9.42 am; Arkema surges on first day of trade

PARIS (AFX) - Market data at 9.42 am

Major indices:
CAC-40 down 23.79 points at 4,896.52
SBF-80 down 96.78 at 5,564.12
SBF-120 down 24.18 at 3,546.51

Volume: 1.1 bln eur
13 CAC-40 stocks up
26 CAC-40 stocks down
1 unchanged

Major gainers:
-Vivendi, up 0.14 eur or 0.5 pct at 27.89 as speculation of a break-up bid
for the company continues to circulate.
-Arkema, up 3.45 eur or 12.8 pct from 27 eur reference price at 30.45. The
former chemicals division of Total began trading as a separate company today.
-Air France-KLM, up 0.10 at 17.35 after posting full-year earning broadly in
line with expectations, and said operating profits this year will at least match
the 936 mln posted last year, despite further increases in fuel costs.

Major losers:
-Technip, down 3 or 6.7 pct at 41.80. First quarter profits released this
morning were in line with forecasts, but CEO Daniel Valot warned that reaching
the full year operating profit target of 340 mln eur would be "challenging."
-Arcelor, down 0.90 or 2.7 pct at 31.95 eur as Mittal Steel's hostile
takeover offer officially opens.
-Vallourec, down 44.50 or 4.7 pct at 895 as recent equity market weakness
prompts investors to take profits from the stock's massive surge since the
beginning of this year.

Most active stocks:
-Total, 100.5 mln eur of volume, down 0.25 at 50.70 as 4-for-1 stock split
takes effect.
-Vivendi, 91.7 mln eur.
-Societe Generale, 59.2 mln eur, unchanged at 114.50 as stronger than
expected first quarter profits allowed the stock to resist the broad market
decline.


[e-mail]
js/vs

[waldron] 04/5/2006 06:24

Total Q1 adjusted net up 16 pct on high oil prices, exceeding estimates

PARIS (AFX) - Total SA said first quarter adjusted net profit rose 16 pct to
3.376 bln eur, exceeding the high end of the range of analysts' forecasts, as
high oil prices amid strong demand offset lower refining margins and a mixed
performance from the chemicals business.
Adjusted net per share was 5.78 eur, up 18 pct.
Adjusted operating profit was up 24 pct to 6.767 bln eur.
The company said it is continuing to implement an active investment program
aimed at long-term growth, with first quarter spending up 41 pct on the year in
dollar terms.
[e-mail]
mjs/jfr

[branfor] 03/5/2006 13:53

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[waldron] 03/5/2006 13:43

Total makes new gas discovery in Algeria's Timimoun field

PARIS (AFX) - Total SA said it has made a new natural gas discovery in the
Timimoun field in southwestern Algeria, where the MJB-3 exploration well found
initial output of 235,000 cubic meters per day.
Further output assessments are underway, as are other exploration and
appraisal programmes in the field.
Total owns a 63.75 pct stake in the Timimoun field, Spain's Cespa owns 11.25
pct, and the Algerian state-owned oil company Sonatrach owns 25 pct.


[e-mail]
js/ma

[waldron] 02/5/2006 07:13

Bolivia


Total S.A ROUNDUP Bolivia renationalises oil, gas industry; Brazil, markets wary
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AFX) - Bolivian troops seized 56 oil and gas fields as
President Evo Morales decreed the renationalisation of the country's
hydrocarbons industry, to be followed by similar moves in the mining, forestry
and agriculture sectors.
Yesterday's edict drew a concerned response from the Brazilian government.
In Europe, traders said that, while negative for companies operating in the
sector - notably Repsol - the news should not have a major impact on share
prices is it had been anticipated.
"We are beginning by nationalizing oil and gas. Tomorrow we will add mining,
forestry and all natural resources, what our ancestors fought for," Morales said
at a May Day speech at San Alberto gas field in southern Bolivia.
Morales said foreign energy companies would have 180 days to agree on new
contracts with state-run oil firm YPFB.
During the transition, YPFB would take 82 pct of revenues, producers 18 pct.
"Only companies that respect these new terms will be allowed to operate in
the country," Morales said.
Bolivia represents 17 pct of Repsol's oil and gas group's reserves base.
"Clearly this is negative news (for the company) but is shouldn't surprise
the market that much... It's been on the cards for some time," a dealer at a
leading US brokerage said.
Other companies affected include BP and British Gas, ExxonMobil, France's
Total SA and Petrobras of Brazil.
In Sao Paulo, Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Silas Rondeau said the
nationalization was an "unfriendly move that could be understood as a break with
understandings made with the Bolivian government."
Ildo Sauer, in charge of gas operations at Petrobras, said Bolivia's move
was "still under review" within Brazil's state-owned oil company.
Petrobras controls 14.5 pct of Bolivia's gas reserves and has invested
billions of dollars in Bolivia since 1996.
Morales was elected in December pledging to take a bigger share of Bolivia's
energy industry, which accounts for about 15 pct of GDP. Two of his predecessors
were toppled by demonstrations demanding control of Bolivia's gas.
Bolivia has the second-largest gas reserves in South America, with an
estimated 54 trillion cubic feet, behind Venezuela. The country produces a more
modest 40,000 barrels per day of crude oil.
Bill Farren-Price, deputy editor of the Cyprus-based Middle East Economic
Survey, described Morales' move as "part of a trend of governments taking
strident action to protect either national resources or to nationalize formerly
privately owned oil resources amid the environment of very high oil prices."
Morales has repeatedly said nationalizations would not include expropriation
of oil companies' assets. But he also said that current contracts violate the
constitution, which declares all reserves state property, which may not be
relinquished.
[e-mail]
afp/jms

[waldron] 26/4/2006 06:44

POLITICS/MACROECONOMIC/MISCELLANEOUS
-Bolivia demands explanation from Total over registration of gas reserves.
-Luxembourg regulator may approve Mittal/Arcelor merger by mid-May

MARKET SENTIMENT
-Atos Origin downgraded to 'in-line' from 'outperform' by Goldman Sachs.

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js/vs

[ariane] 14/4/2006 16:16

Total 1st-Quarter Refining Margins Drop; Oil, Gas Reach Records
April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Total SA, Europe's largest oil refiner, said first-quarter crude-processing margins dropped their most in almost three years while natural gas and oil prices averaged record highs.

Refining margins, or the profit made from turning each barrel of crude into products such as gasoline and diesel, fell to $25.80 a ton from $45.50 a ton in the fourth quarter, Paris- based Total said today in a statement on its Web site. Margins fell 18 percent from $31.70 a ton in the year-earlier quarter.

Brent crude prices averaged a record $61.80 per barrel, liquid prices a record $58.8 per barrel and gas prices a record $6.16 per million British thermal units, Total said in its statement.

Total's refining margin drop was the biggest quarter-to- quarter decline since a 45 percent slide in the second quarter of 2003. A drop in refining profit may be cushioned by its larger and more profitable exploration and production business.

Total report first-quarter earnings May 4. The company releases its trading indicators about two weeks after the end of each quarter to help investors adjust earnings expectations.

BP Plc, Europe's largest oil company, on April 5 said first-quarter refining margins fell 17 percent to $6.28 a barrel from $7.60 a barrel in the fourth quarter.



To contact the reporter on this story:
Tom Cahill in Paris at [e-mail]
Last Updated: April 14, 2006 10:53 EDT