Total Produce Share Discussion Threads

[waldron] 26/9/2006 18:20

CORRECTION Russia goes ahead with checks on Total oilfields

(Corrects name of Kovyktinsky field to Kovykta, and shows field owned
jointly by Total and TNK-BP)
MOSCOW (AFX) - The Russian natural resources ministry plans to check that
Total and British-Russian group TNK-BP are respecting the terms of their license
to develop major energy fields in the country, news agency Ria Novosti reported
Tuesday.
"Today, if we are talking about the Kharyaga oil field, we have questions
about the operation of this project," Russian Natural Resources Minister Yury
Trutnev said, according to Ria Novosti.
"For the moment, we do not consider that these questions are criticism, but
they exist. There is a check-up plan," he added.
"In the context of this plan, there will be verification of the Kharyaga and
Kovykta energy fields on the basis of respect (by Total and TNK-BP) of the terms
of its license and environmental standards," he said.
The plan follows a series of Russian government moves to put pressure on
production-sharing agreements concluded with foreign companies in the 1990s,
including the Exxon-led Sakhalin-1 and the Royal Dutch Shell-led Sakhalin-2
projects.
Russia complains that the PSAs were agreed at a time of low global oil
prices and a weak period of Russian government, and many observers suspect it
wants to renegotiate the deals in order to secure better terms.
The Kharyaga field, located in northern Russia, currently produces around
20,000 barrels per day and has been the object of bitter dispute for years, with
the Russian government accusing Total of excessive delays in completing the
project.
Total controls 50 pct of the Kharyaga field, while Norway's Norsk Hydro owns
40 pct and local authorities 10 pct.
The Kovykta field, located in Siberia, is one of the biggest gas fields in
Russia and is one of the main gas projects of TNK-BP, a 50-50 Russian-British
joint venture involving BP.
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[waldron] 21/9/2006 10:33

Russian official warns Total over oil field licence

MOSCOW (AFX) - Russia would have legal grounds to retract the licence issued
to French oil giant Total to develop the Kharyaga field in northern Russia, an
official warned.
"We believe that the legal basis exists for revoking the licence to
Kharyaga, due to the company not fulfilling the conditions of the project,"
Nikolai Gudkov, a spokesman for the natural resources ministry, told Agence
France-Presse.
The Kharyaga field currently produces around 20,000 barrels per day and has
been the object of bitter dispute for years, with the Russian government
accusing Total of excessive delays in completing the project.
But a spokeswoman for Total said the company respected the rules agreed
under a production-sharing agreement (PSA) with the Russian government.
"We continue to say that we respect the rules of the production-sharing
agreement (PSA) in our work," Patricia Marie said.
Gudkov said the ministry had sent material about the Total project to a
committee at the federal agency for mineral resources, which would make a final
decision on revoking the licence.
He said he did not know when that committee, which will include Total
representatives, would meet, but stressed the licence could be revoked even
though the project is governed by a PSA.
"An expert assessment shows that there is a legal basis for revoking the
licence on Kharyaga even though it falls under a production-sharing agreement,"
Gudkov said.
Total controls 50 pct of the Kharyaga oil field, Norwegian energy firm Norsk
Hydro has 40 pct and local authorities in the Yamalo-Nenets province where the
project is based hold 10 pct.
The move fits a pattern of Russian government pressure on production sharing
agreements concluded with foreign companies in the 1990s, including the
Exxon-led Sakhalin-1 and the Royal Dutch Shell-led Sakhalin-2 projects.
The PSAs were agreed in the 1990s at a time of low global oil prices and a
period of weak Russian government. The agreements are now seen as outdated and
unfavourable to the Russian state.

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afp/cmr

[waldron] 18/9/2006 10:09

Total declines comment on report Russia may cancel Kharyaginsk field contract

PARIS (AFX) - Total SA said it would have no immediate comment on a report
that Russia may cancel the company's production sharing agreement in the
northern Kharyaginsk oil field.
Interfax quoted the Ministry of Natural Resources as saying the agreement,
as well as others with Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell to develop fields off
Sakhalin Island, would be cancelled as the companies failed to fulfill their
terms.
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mjs/vs

[waldron] 08/9/2006 09:21

Total vows to pursue ops in Iran despite US pressure - Desmarest

PARIS (AFX) - Total SA will continue efforts to develop Iran's vast oil and
gas reserves and will not have its hands tied by US attempts to isolate Iran by
preventing international companies from investing there, said CEO Thierry
Desmarest.
The French energy group will respect any decisions made by the its
government, the EU and the UN regarding trade with Iran, but US regulations are
the problem of US companies, Desmarest told the Financial Times in an interview.
Total, which has been active in Iran since the 1990s, is one of the
companies involved in a 2 bln usd oilfield development contract due to be signed
between Iran and Japan.

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afp/jms

[waldron] 08/9/2006 07:30

The Times September 08, 2006


Total chief says world will find oil target tough
By Carl Mortished, International Business Editor



THE world will struggle to raise oil output to levels much greater than 100 million barrels per day, Thierry Desmarest, chief executive of Total, has given warning.
The head of the French energy multinational is sceptical that the global oil industry can raise output from current levels of 85 million bpd to meet demand forecasts by the International Energy Agency of 120 million bpd by 2030.



Total is expecting a return to oil production growth after a setback in this year's second quarter, when civil disturbance in Nigeria and unplanned maintenance shutdowns caused an 8.6 per cent fall in output.

The company is investing an extra $1 billion (£533 million) a year in repairing platforms, pipelines and infrastructure. M Desmarest said that the situation in Prudhoe Bay, where BP had to shut down production, was "emblematic" of wider problems in the industry.

He said: "It is clear a lot of fields were developed 20 to 30 years ago with a view that production would last for 15 years. However, the evolution of the oil price has justified efforts to catch the last drop [of oil]."

The problem has been exacerbated, he said, because the need to repair and replace old infrastructure is occurring when oil service companies are working flat out to develop new oilfields.

M Desmarest reckons that Total will produce 7 per cent more barrels in 2007, but he is doubtful about the industry's ability to continue to meet long-term projections of rising demand. "The opinon of our geologists is we can go a bit beyond 100 million bpd, but not to 120 million," he said.

The French oil major has broken ranks with some peers in its scepticism that the industry can continue to both replenish and substantially increase the size of the gobal petrol tank.

Rivals, such as ExxonMobil and BP, have preferred to avoid discussions of peak oil and point to three trillion barrels of global proven reserves. The optimists believe that improvements in technology, which let companies recover a greater proportion of oil in a reservoir, will reduce the gap between finite reserves and rising demand.

However, concern is growing that nationalist politics in oil-producing nations may hinder investment. Even then, a shortage of resources, such as engineering procurement contractors and skilled workers, is already causing delays to vital oil and gas infrastructure projects. There is an acute shortage of deep-water drilling rigs an costs have risen to $500,000 a day.

Christophe de Margerie, Total's exploration chief, who has been appointed M Desmarest's successor, recently said that the problem of peak oil was not one of reserves but of supplies of engineers and infrastructure.

[ariane] 24/8/2006 10:14

Total buys 20 deepwater production blocks in US waters of Gulf of Mexico

PARIS (AFX) - Total SA said its US oil and gas exploration and production
unit is acquiring 100 pct stakes in 20 deepwater blocks in US waters of the Gulf
of Mexico after being the highest bidder in the government's sale of rights.
It said it considers the blocks, each covering 5,760 acres, to have "high
long-term potential."
Financial details were not disclosed.

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[ariane] 23/8/2006 08:01

Paris shares AFX at a glance outlook

PARIS (AFX) - Shares are expected to open flat amid a backdrop of renewed
inflation concerns in the US and easing crude oil prices, dealers said.
Yesterday, the CAC-40 index closed up 23.68 points or 0.5 pct at 5,128.33,
near its session high, on volume of 3.4 bln eur.
On the Matif, September CAC-40 futures were trading down 3.5 points or 0.07
pct at 5,135.0 ahead of the official opening.
The euro stood at 1.2787 usd, against 1.2807 late yesterday.

TODAY'S PRESS
-EADS launches audit of A400 project amid concerns about delays (La Tribune)
-Bouygues raises stake in Alstom to more than 24 pct (Les Echos)
-Plavix competitor costing Sanofi-Aventis, Bristol-Myers mlns of usd/day in
sales (Les Echos)
-ADP transfers control towers at 2 Paris airports to state for 152 mln eur
(La Tribune)

COMPANY NEWS
-Venezuela lawmaker warns of nationalizing Orinoco projects of Total, others
-Air France ready to resume Beirut flights once authorisations received
-Eurotunnel traffic fully restored after truck fire halts service

MARKET SENTIMENT
-EADS removed from Lehman's Recommended Portfolio
-Casino upgraded to 'equal-weight' from 'underweight' at Morgan Stanley
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[grupo guitarlumber] 04/8/2006 06:24

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 09:08

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.
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gp/vjt

[ariane] 09/7/2006 07:43

$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 16:28

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 07:53

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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 07:50

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.
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[waldron] 03/6/2006 18:27

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 12:07

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.
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