Total Share Discussion Threads

[ariane] 18/7/2009 09:37

irtime: Thurs. Jul. 9 2009 | 09 16 00 ET
CNBC's Simon Hobbs speaks to Christophe de Margerie, CEO of Total, about why the innovator who helped build the world's 4th oil major is selling nuclear power to the Middle East.

[ariane] 19/6/2009 09:06

Total Exercises Preemptive Rights Over Dutch Refinery Stake





PARIS -(Dow Jones)- French oil group Total SA (TOT) exercised its preemptive rights over the shares of Dutch refinery of Vlissingen that were offered by U.S.-based Dow Chemical Co. (DOW), it said Friday.

Total is the majority shareholder of Vlissingen with a 55% stake while Dow Chemical owns 45% of it.

Concurrently, Russia's Lukoil Holdings (LKOH.RS) submitted to Total a binding purchase offer for the shares that Dow Chemical has offered, "which constitutes the development of a new partnership between the two companies," the French group said.

Company Web site: www.total.com

-By Geraldine Amiel, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail];

[grupo guitarlumber] 13/6/2009 08:44

Sanofi hobbled by lack of investor support
By Paul Betts

Published: June 12 2009 02:46 | Last updated: June 12 2009 02:46

There is probably nothing more frustrating for a chief executive than answering to uncommitted core shareholders. Ask Louis Gallois. The EADS chief has long sought to pull off a US acquisition to expand the Franco-German aerospace group's defence activities and reduce its dependence on its Airbus civil aircraft business.

But Mr Gallois' core industrial shareholders – France's Lagardère and Germany's Daimler – have systematically blocked his ambitions. Not so much because they consider such a move risky, but because they are anxious for EADS to preserve its cash and are reluctant to dig into their own pockets to support the longer-term development of a company they are both keen to exit.

Largardère wants to focus on its multimedia activities, while Daimler's priority is its car business. Both have made it clear that they eventually want to dispose of their stakes. But in the current distressed aviation market, this is hardly the moment to sell. So their strategy seems to be to wait for the industry cycle to turn and the EADS shares to recover to enable them to dispose of their remaining stakes. In the meantime, the last thing they intend to do is increase their exposure to the aerospace business.

The same fate now seems to have befallen Chris Viehbacher, the new chief executive of French pharmaceutical group Sanofi-Aventis. The former top GlaxoSmithKline executive was recruited last year by the group's core shareholders – the French oil major Total and the L'Oréal shampoo group – to shake up the pharmaceutical company's strategy and revive its languishing share price.

Like other big international drug companies, Sanofi-Aventis is under pressure to replenish its pipeline as patents expire on its best-selling drugs. The company has been seeking to develop new drugs to replace these blockbusters, but the productivity of its own research and development departments has been disappointing. All in all, Sanofi now needs to make acquisitions to compensate for the sales it stands to lose from patent expiries – let alone to ensure its future growth.

Mr Viehbacher has wasted little time in embarking on his new mission. From the beginning he said his strategy would be to make small to mid-size deals to boost the company's drug development and pipeline. He has already made several such acquisitions. But it also seems he had been entertaining grander plans.

With his peers engaging in a significant new wave of consolidation, Mr Viehbacher could hardly sit back in his Paris office and look out of the window across the Seine. After all, Sanofi-Aventis, with its low debt, has all the financial resources to mount a mega-acquisition. Although the company on Thursday flatly denied that Mr Viehbacher had proposed making a big US acquisition to his board, that does not mean he did not consider one and informally discussed it with board members. Rumours on Thursday suggested he might have been thinking of Amgen, the big US biotechnology company with a market value of about $50bn.

The obvious conclusion is that Total and L'Oréal simply did not want to know.

The reason is that both companies, which have both repeatedly said they want to dispose of their remaining Sanofi stakes in a gradual and progressive manner, are above all interested in avoiding risky operations that could affect the recovery in Sanofi's share price.

Download debacle

The entertainment business applauded the French government's initiative to introduce legislation to crack down on the illegal downloading of music and films as a breakthrough in their battle against internet piracy.

Unfortunately, for both the industry and President Nicolas Sarkozy's government, they had not banked on the French Constitutional Court ruling this week that such legislation would contravene basic civil rights, as defined in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. On this basis, the country's top court, whose judgment cannot be overturned, argued that free access to online services was a human right.

What this means is that only a judge – and no longer the state regulatory agency the government is setting up – will have the power to cut off offenders from the web. This will undoubtedly make it all the more difficult, if virtually impossible, to enforce the new legislation given France's overstretched and lengthy judicial system.

As a result, Mr Sarkozy is now caught in a difficult position as his government rewrites the law. He wants to please his friends in the arts and entertainment world, not least his wife. But he will also have to heed the civil rights sensibilities of France's rising political class – the Greens who scored so strongly in the European elections.

[e-mail]

[grupo guitarlumber] 11/6/2009 14:11

Sanofi Denies Proposing Major U.S. Acquisition
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By David Whitehouse

June 11 (Bloomberg) -- Sanofi-Aventis SA spokesman Jean- Marc Podvin denied a report in Les Echos that the company proposed a major acquisition in the U.S. to its strategic committee. He spoke by telephone.

Last Updated: June 11, 2009 00:42 EDT

[grupo guitarlumber] 11/6/2009 11:13

Sanofi-Aventis SA (SAN FP), France's biggest drugmaker, rose 52.5 cents, or 1.1 percent, to 46.39 euros, snapping two days of losses. Pharmaceutical shares were raised to "attractive" at Morgan Stanley, which said "valuations capture both near-term U.S. political uncertainty and growing economic pressure."

Separately, Sanofi shareholders including L'Oreal SA and Total SA have blocked an acquisition in the U.S. that would have cost "dozens of billions of dollars," Les Echos reported, citing unidentified people. Spokesman Jean-Marc Podvin denied the report.

[grupo guitarlumber] 10/6/2009 06:24

Total Seeks 20% to 30% Reduction in Costs for Energy Projects
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By Dinakar Sethuraman

June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Total SA, Europe's third-largest oil producer, is seeking to cut equipment and services costs by between 20 and 30 percent as the global recession lowers energy demand, an official said.

"A key issue is to decrease the cost of the projects," Jean-Marie Guillermou, senior vice president, exploration & production, Asia Pacific, said in an interview at the Asia Oil & Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Total estimates capital spending, excluding acquisitions and divestments, at $18 billion in 2009, although the company has said this may not be met as projects are delayed and contracts renegotiated. Crude oil has more than doubled since dropping to around $33 a barrel in December, although it is still $53 below the record $147.27 a barrel reached last July.

The company wants bigger than targeted reductions in costs for deepwater equipment, rentals of which have surged 300 percent in the last few years, Guillermou said. Contractors should reduce costs if they want to maintain demand for rigs, he said.

"If they want the backlog to continue they have to bring cost of services and equipment back to the environment which prevailed in 2005, 2006," he said.

Total expects costs to drop as much as 15 percent this year compared with 2008, Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie said in May.

The company plans to continue investing in Asia even as the recession cuts demand for oil and gas, he said. The Asia-Pacific region accounted for 11 percent of Total's global oil production and 48 percent of gas output in 2008, he said.

The region, led by Indonesia and Thailand, accounts for about 10 percent of Total's global spending.

Indonesia Investment

Total, which is supplying 80 percent of the gas for the Bontang liquefied natural gas project from the Mahakam area, and its partners are investing about $2 billion a year in Indonesia to maintain output, Guillermou said.

"The main challenge for us is extension of the gas supply contract expiring in 2017," Guillermou said. "We are confident that we will get an agreement on this matter before the end of this year."

The company, which was short listed for the Natuna D-Alpha block, Indonesia's biggest gas area, is awaiting clarification from Indonesia on the bidding process, he said.

Total plans to sanction the proposed Ichthys LNG project in Australia with partner Inpex Corp. in the end of next year or early 2011 for production to start by the middle of the next decade, he said.

Total will submit a proposal to China National Petroleum Corp. to extract gas from the South Sulige gas block in China by October, he said. The company is also using its deepwater expertise to accelerate projects in Malaysia and Brunei, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dinakar Sethuraman in Singapore at [e-mail]

Last Updated: June 9, 2009 05:53 EDT

[waldron] 01/6/2009 06:35

Total Says New Discoveries Can Beat North Sea Field Decline
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By Tara Patel

June 1 (Bloomberg) -- Total SA, Europe's third-largest oil company, is calculating investment in North Sea fields will make it the U.K.'s biggest oil and gas operator within three years, challenging top-ranked BP Plc on its home turf.

"Our strategy is more aggressive than other companies," Roland Festor, managing director of Total E&P U.K. Ltd., said in an interview May 28 in Aberdeen, Scotland. "We don't have a strategy to grow by acquisitions but by exploration in our hubs."

The fourth-largest producer in the U.K. is aiming to drive its costs in the region down, reducing spending by about one quarter this year as it pushes ahead with North Sea expansion even amid a recession which has hurt demand for crude oil and natural gas.

Total has lowered its spending cap for development of the Laggan and Tormore fields west of the Shetland Islands by at least 10 percent to 1.8 billion pounds ($2.9 billion) as part of a drive to save money. It remains committed to investment amid a natural long-term decline in output from the North Sea.

"We had a pre-crisis budget of 2 billion pounds and now have to get it down," Festor said, adding the company is taking bids on work for the project, which could start pumping natural gas in 2014, later than planned. Total had said in February it could spend as much as 2.5 billion pounds developing the area and expected first gas output by mid-2013.

Output Trends

Once the world's fourth-largest oil and gas producer, the U.K. has been in decline since 1999 and is now seeking ways to keep companies from abandoning the North Sea, where costs for exploration and production are among the highest in the world.

While BP's development spending in the North Sea rose 13 percent to $907 million in 2008, its output of liquids fell 14 percent and gas by 1 percent over the period. The London-based company, still the biggest producer in the U.K., made two discoveries at South West Foinaven and Kinnoull, and said in its annual report in March it is now concentrating on "in-field drilling and selected new field developments" in the area.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, another major operator in the region, sold some U.K. assets last year, including its share of the South Cormorant, Cormorant North, Tern, Eider, Kestrel and Pelican licenses, non-operated interests in the Hudson license and interests in the Brent System and Sullom Voe terminal. It also divested its share in the Dunlin Cluster in the North Sea, according to its annual report released March 17.

Recession Effect

Oil production from mature fields declines naturally at rates that depend on their size, location and whether investment is made to counter the process, such as by drilling new wells.

North Sea fields have some of the highest natural decline rates while those on the Middle East have the lowest, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency's 2008 World Energy Outlook. North Sea fields have declined on average by 11.5 percent a year since peak compared with a rate of 3 percent in the Middle East, the report said.

This is one reason European oil supply is expected to fall to 2.2 million barrels of oil per day in 2030 from 4.9 million barrels of oil per day last year, the IEA said.

Lower spending on exploration and production due to the economic slowdown has hit the North Sea particularly hard where "exploration drilling fell by 78 percent in the first quarter of 2009 almost twice as fast as the overall drop in drilling," according to a separate IEA report published this month for a meeting of the Group of Eight industrialized nations. "For the industry as a whole there is a risk that decline rates could rise as a result of capital spending cuts."

New Wells

Hoping to buck the trend, Total said its U.K. operated production this year is likely to rise to 274,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day from 267,000 last year.

Nevertheless, the French company has lowered investment in the U.K. this year and is cutting back spending on projects such as new offices in Aberdeen, Festor said. "We've postponed everything not linked to production."

Total produced about 10 percent of the U.K.'s oil and gas between 2004 and 2008, and its output from the region accounts for 9 percent of the company's daily production. The U.K. is the third-largest contributor to Total's output after Norway and Nigeria, according to a company presentation in February.

To raise output, company executives said plans are moving forward for new wells at the Elgin and Franklin fields, about 240 kilometers (149 miles) from Aberdeen, and the new Laggan- Tormore development west of Shetlands.

Longer Life

Elgin Franklin, which began producing oil and natural gas in 2001 and delivers about 7 percent of U.K. overall output, is the deepest producing field in the North Sea and the largest so-called high pressure, high temperature development in the world.

Capable of daily production of about 220,000 barrels of oil equivalent, Elgin Franklin was initially expected to contain about 700 million barrels of oil equivalent and last for about 25 years. This estimate has been increased to about 1 billion barrels a day with a field life of 30 years as new wells have been added.

Maintaining current production will be possible "until at least the middle of next year," said Thierry Bourgeois, Operations and Geosciences Director at Total E&P U.K., during a press visit to the platform.

New discoveries at the West Franklin part of the development as well as at the nearby Kessog and Corfe prospects could extend Elgin Franklin's production life, Bourgeois said.

Pressure, Temperature

"We are relatively optimistic," Festor said of continuing tests at Kessog, in which Total acquired an interest from BP and would become operator if the development goes through. "By the end of the year we will have a good idea and then will decide."

Festor said Total has developed an expertise it wants to export for high-pressure, high-temperature wells worldwide from working at Elgin Franklin.

Further north, Total has extended the life of the Alwyn field over the past two decades through satellite discoveries, the latest being last year's addition of output from the Jura field, and plans to add a discovery at Islay to the hub.

Located in a far harsher and more remote area of the North Sea, Laggan and Tormore are "the future of Total U.K.," Festor said.

The fields are 140 kilometers west of Shetland, requiring underwater pipelines to transport natural gas to a planned processing plant at Sullom Voe Terminal and another connection to the existing Frigg U.K. pipeline to St. Fergus.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tara Patel in Paris On [e-mail]

Last Updated: May 31, 2009 18:00 EDT

[grupo guitarlumber] 13/2/2009 11:21

Total Eyes Sept '09 Green Light For UK Gas Devt (Total S.A)





LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Total SA (TOT) plans to move ahead with development of the Laggan and Tormore gas fields in the West Of Shetland part of the U.K. North Sea and expects to give to receive approval for the investment in September, said Roland Festor, managing director of the company's U.K. exploration and production arm.

The company aims to get first gas produced from the fields in 2013, he said.

James Herron, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]

[grupo guitarlumber] 13/2/2009 10:35

CORRECT:Total CEO:Need 20% Cost Fall To Make Oil Sands Viable (Total S.A)





("Total CEO: Need 20% Cost Fall To Make Oil Sands Viable," published at 0935 GMT, misspelled the name of Total's chief executive.)

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- The cost of developing Canadian oil sands needs to fall by 20% to make new projects viable, said Total SA (TOT) chief executive Christophe de Magerie Friday.

Large-cost inflation seen in recent years in the sector indicate that companies need to find a new way to develop resources in the area, he said.

"We just want to redevelop our investment...to avoid too many projects at the same time in the same place," which pushes up costs, he said.

Companies should consider more joint ventures, sharing infrastructure like upgraders or consolidation, he said.

James Herron, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]

[grupo guitarlumber] 12/2/2009 08:01

Total SA 4Q 2008 Adjusted Profit EUR2.87 Billion Vs EUR3.11 Billion (Total S.A)





By Adam Mitchell
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

PARIS -(Dow Jones)- French oil major Total SA (TOT) Thursday reported an 8% fall in fourth-quarter adjusted profit, ahead of expectations, as weakening demand in a deepening economic downturn caused oil prices to plummet.

Fourth-quarter profit - adjusted to exclude inventory changes, one-time items, and the group's equity share of the amortization of intangibles related to the Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) merger - dropped to EUR2.87 billion, from EUR3.11 billion in the same period a year earlier, Total said.

Adjusted profit is the income figure most closely watched by analysts. Total's third-quarter adjusted profit beatsan average estimate of EUR2.63 billion, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey of 15 analysts.

France's biggest company by market value posted a net loss of EUR794 million for the three months ended Dec. 31, or EUR0.36 a share, from a net profit of EUR3.6 billion, or EUR1.59 a share, in the same period a year earlier.

The after-tax inventory effect had a negative impact on net income of EUR3.13 billion in the fourth quarter, against a positive impact a year earlier of EUR530 million, Total said.

Sales fell 10% to EUR38.71 billion from EUR43.19 billion.

Shares in Total have declined by around 17% over the past six months, as the price of oil has plummeted and amid turmoil in global markets. The shares closed Wednesday in Paris down 0.8% at EUR40.09.

Company Web site:

-By Adam Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires, [phone]; [e-mail]

[grupo guitarlumber] 25/1/2009 09:00

2009 Event
February 12 Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2008 Results

[grupo guitarlumber] 11/4/2008 06:36

Total Sees $70 Oil Price Floor as Producers Struggle (Update2)

By Fred Pals and Tara Patel

April 10 (Bloomberg) -- New exploration and oil production projects will require prices to remain above $70 a barrel, leaving little room for a substantial decline in energy costs, said the head of Total SA, Europe's third-largest oil company.

``There is a new floor linked to costs'' of developing new oil fields which require a minimum of $70 or $80 a barrel, as drilling and other exploration costs rise, Total Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie said today at an energy conference in Paris.

Total, along with Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the world's two biggest publicly traded oil companies, needs to find new oil and gas reserves as resource-holding nations are squeezing international companies in favor of national champions. Supply constraints and burgeoning Asian demand support the rally in oil prices, which yesterday reached a record $112.21 in New York.

Major oil-producing nations don't have the ability to raise production ``quickly'' to meet a jump in consumption, De Margerie said. About 45 percent of proved oil reserves are located in ``closed'' countries while more than half of the rise in world demand has been met by supplies from outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, he said.

No Quick Capacity

``There is no capacity to quickly increase production if there is additional demand,'' the Total chief said. International oil companies are spending ``as much as we can'' on increasing output and reserves, he said.

OPEC, the supplier of more than 40 percent of the world's oil, has resisted calls to boost crude production, arguing that existing supply is meeting demand and that speculation and the weakening U.S. dollar are boosting oil prices.

``The world is producing more oil than it is consuming,'' Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said at the same Paris conference today. ``If there is a buyer, we will sell to him.''

International oil companies including Exxon, Shell, BP Plc and Eni SpA have lost some stakes in the world's biggest projects either because of takeovers from state companies or lower entitlements in contracts because of higher oil prices.

``If we don't have more oil and gas and sources of other energy we think the risk that demand will outstrip supply will happen sooner than expected,'' Total's De Margerie said.

Raising world oil supply to 100 million barrels a day is ``not achievable'' in coming years and even reaching 95 million barrels a day is ``optimistic not because there aren't sufficient reserves but because there isn't sufficient production capacity,'' De Margerie said.

Price Forecasts Rise

World oil demand is expected to average 87.5 million barrels a day this year, according to the International Energy Agency. Oil prices traded in New York reached the $112.21 record yesterday following an unexpected decline in U.S. crude inventories.

Banks and securities firms have repeatedly raised oil price forecasts because supply is failing to keep pace with demand. Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank, today boosted its estimate for 2008 New York-traded crude by 20 percent to $96 a barrel. The consensus median forecast for the 2008 price is now $91.01, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from 30 analysts.

OPEC doesn't need to hold a policy-setting meeting before its scheduled September summit in Vienna, Saudi Arabia's al-Naimi suggested. Asked by reporters whether an emergency meeting is needed, he replied: ``Why should we meet?''

To contact the reporters on this story: Fred Pals in Amsterdam at [e-mail]; Tara Patel in Paris at [e-mail]

Last Updated: April 10, 2008 08:36 EDT

[grupo guitarlumber] 09/4/2008 19:45

Total open to entry of other sovereign funds, but not above combined 10 pct




PARIS (Thomson Financial) - Total is open to other sovereign funds entering
its capital, after a Chinese state-owned fund built up a stake in the oil major,
but would like their combined shareholding not to exceed 10 percent, a Total
spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman was confirming comments made by CEO Christophe de Margerie
in an interview with French daily Liberation to be published on Friday.
[e-mail]
gt/rw/gt/rw

[grupo guitarlumber] 05/4/2008 08:09

Chinese sovereign fund buys stake in French oil giant Total

The Associated Press
Friday, April 4, 2008
PARIS: French oil giant Total SA said Friday that a Chinese sovereign wealth fund has bought a large stake in the company for the first time.

Analysts said the purchase points to China's thirst for access to raw materials to fuel its economic expansion, and presented little threat that the cash-rich fund would seek to take over Total — for political reasons.

The Financial Times reported that the buyer is China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and that it bought a 1.6 percent stake in Total. That would be worth nearly €2 billion (US$3.14) billion.

A Total spokeswoman refused to reveal the name of the fund, or the size of the stake beyond that it was a "not negligible" investment, worth less than 5 percent of the company's total market value.

"We believe this is good news" for Total, spokeswoman Patricia Marie said. "These funds have a lot of money. They're investing in profitable things for the long term."

She said it was the first time that a Chinese sovereign wealth fund had invested in Total.

Total is France's biggest company by market value, and would likely be defended from any possible takeover threat by French authorities, who are known for protecting national strategic interests in the corporate world.

ING analyst Jason Kenney, reiterating his buy rating on the company, wrote that the investment could provide mutual benefits for China and Total, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

China could benefit by getting much-coveted access to oil production growth and exploration success, liquefied natural gas capacity, and refining technology exposure to the Middle East and West Africa, Kenney wrote.

Total stands to gain better access to China, he added.

Total's share price has fallen more than 7 percent over the past year, underperforming U.S.-based industry leader ExxonMobil Corp. by around a fifth.

Total shares opened higher Friday but lost ground and were down about 1 percent to €48.46 ($76.19) in late trading.

[grupo guitarlumber] 03/4/2008 18:56

Total Says European 2008 Refining Margins Down (Update1)

By Tara Patel

April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Total SA, Europe's largest oil refiner, said European refining margins since the start of the year have been lower on average than in 2007.

``Since the beginning of 2008 European refining margins have been on average lower than in 2007,'' Paris-based Total said in its annual report published today. Total plans eight ``major turnarounds'' that will be ``spread throughout the year'' at refineries it operates, two less than in 2007.

The company plans to invest about 1 billion euros ($1.6 billion) on average a year between 2008 and 2012 in refining ``excluding major turnarounds,'' the document states.

About 30 percent of the amount will be put toward a coker project at the company's Port Arthur refinery in Texas as well as studies for a possible project in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, the company said.

Another 30 percent of planned investment is slated in part for adapting European refineries to meet increased demand for diesel and ``stricter fuel specifications.''

The company said the ``environment for petrochemicals has been generally unfavorable though improved compared to the year end 2007.''

Paris-based Total maintained its outlook for production growth, saying it expects an increase of 4 percent a year on average from 2006 to 2010, based on a forecast for Brent crude at $60 a barrel.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tara Patel in Paris at [e-mail]

Last Updated: April 3, 2008 09:28 EDT

[ariane] 14/1/2008 08:58

Total announces start-up of LPG import and storage terminal in India




LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Total said it has started up a large scale
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) import and underground storage terminal in
Visakhapatnam, in the south eastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
The French company said the facility is owned and operated by South Asia
LPG, which is jointly-owned by Total and India's Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd
(HPCL).
The terminal has a storage capacity of 60,000 metric tonnes and is the
largest LPG import facility in India.


[e-mail]
hem/lam

[ariane] 14/1/2008 08:45

Kashagan deal sees KazMunaiGaz double stake; reportedly for 1.78 bln usd UPDATE




(Adds Eni spokesperson saying deal reached)
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - KazMunaiGaz said it will double its holding in
the Kashagan oil project in a deal reportedly worth 1.78 bln usd that will give
the Kazakh state oil company the same stake in the development as its major
western shareholders.
The deal "brings (KMG's) participating interest in the (production sharing
agreement) equal to that of the largest shareholders as of January 1," the
Kazakh company said in a statement. KMG did not confirm figures.
KMG's stake in the consortium will rise to 16.6 pct, at the expense of all
the other partners - field operator Eni SpA, Exxon Mobil Corp, Total SA France
and Royal Dutch Shell PLC.
The four western companies previously had held 18.5 pct each.
The 1.78 bln usd -- the figure reported in the Wall Street Journal from a
source close to the talks -- would not fully reflect Kashagan's long-term value,
analysts said.
The remaining two Kashagan shareholders, ConocoPhillips and Inpex Holdings
Inc of Japan, will also see their stakes diminish.
The Eni-led consortium also agreed to make an additional payment to
Kazakhstan of between 2.5-4.5 bln usd, depending on the oil price, the Journal
cited the source as saying. The payment includes a one-off bonus of 300 mln usd,
with the rest comprising a royalty, the Journal source said.
A spokesperson for Eni confirmed "a deal has been reached" and that the
consortium will release a statement later today, declining to elaborate further.
[e-mail]
jms/jms/dm/kf1

[waldron] 11/1/2008 12:41

Kazakh govt ready to cancel Kashagan deal with Eni consortium - Interfax UPDATE




(adds background, Eni declines comment)
MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Kazakhstan's Energy and Natural Resources
Ministry is examining the possibility of severing the North Caspian project
production-sharing agreement (PSA) with the international Agip KCO consortium
led by Eni SpA.
The Eni-led consortium has been developing the giant Kashagan oil field in
the Caspian Sea.
"The ministry, together with KazMunaiGaz, are examining the issue and are
drafting the documents necessary to dissolve the North Caspian PSA with the Agip
KCO consortium," a source familiar with the talks told Interfax.
"I think the government will address this issue during the coming week," the
source said.
The decision is based on the fact that the proposals by the Agip KCO
consortium members "did not meet the requirements of the Kazakh side due to the
absence of a unified approach by all consortium members," it added.
A decisive meeting was initially scheduled for Jan 11 to resolve the
long-running dispute between the Kazakh government and the consortium developing
the field under the PSA has been postponed.
The heads of the six foreign oil companies involved are now expected to meet
with Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev and prime minister Karim Masimov no
sooner than Jan 13.
The six companies and officials from Kazakhstan have been in talks since
August last year. The talks have been extended until Jan 15.
The dispute arose in June after Eni, which operates the field, announced a
two-year delay in the production launch to 2010, with government officials
claiming that the project's total costs have jumped to 136 bln usd from 57 bln.
Members of the consortium are Eni, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Total,
which have 18.5 pct each; ConocoPhillips, which has 9.3 pct; Inpex and
KazMunaiGaz, which have 8.3 pct each.
Financial analysts have been expecting the consortium to settle its dispute
with a mix of equity and cash and limited changes to the PSA.
The consortium was expected to give KazMunaiGaz, the Kazakh state oil
company, a higher stake in the project for free, overcoming Exxon Mobil's
opposition, and at the same time they could pay a cash compensation to the
Kazakh government.
In exchange, the government was seen dropping demands for an increase of its
share in Kashagan profits and also perhaps accepting an extension of the
concession agreement beyond 2041, according to analysts.
Kashagan is the largest oil field discovered anywhere since the 1960s and
has an estimated 13 bln barrels of recoverable oil reserves.
Eni declined to comment.
[e-mail]
pw/jag

[waldron] 08/1/2008 08:16

Total Kazakh state to double Kashagan stake; Eni group to pay govt 3.5 bln usd -report




MILAN (Thomson Financial) - The Eni SpA-led consortium developing the
Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea will pay 3.5 bln usd in compensation to
the Kazakh government to settle their dispute over cost overruns and delays to
the project, daily MF reported.
As part of the deal, Kazakh state-run oil company KazMunaiGaz will raise its
stake in the field to 16 pct from 8.33 pct and the other partners will cut their
stakes by about 1 pct each, the paper said, citing sources close to the talks.
Eni will be confirmed as operator of the huge oil field, MF added.
ExxonMobil, which has been against KazMunaiGaz raising its stake, will be
offered new exploration rights and the extension of its Tengiz concession.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev is meeting with Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni
and the other consortium chiefs on Friday, when it appears likely a final
agreement will be confirmed.
Until now, the consortium has comprised Eni, Total, Royal Dutch Shell and
Exxon Mobil, each with 18.52 pct stakes; ConocoPhillips with 9.26 pct; and Inpex
and KazMunaiGaz each with 8.33 pct.






[e-mail]
dm/jms

[waldron] 05/1/2008 16:17

Total Plans to Invest More Than $16 Billion in 2008, Chief Says

By Vidya Root and Francois de Beaupuy

Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Total SA, Europe's third-largest oil company, expects crude prices to remain high for ``a long time,'' and plans more than $16 billion of investment this year, Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie said.

``We have to expect high prices for a long time,'' de Margerie said in an interview today on Europe 1, a Paris-based radio station. ``Our investment budget in 2007 was $16 billion. It will rise strongly in 2008 and probably in 2009 and 2010 as well.''

Crude-oil prices reached a record $100.09 on Jan. 3 in New York. Investment decisions taken now will have an impact on capacity in five years, he said.

``There's not enough production capacity to meet demand,'' de Margerie said. ``With strong demand like today and the inability to raise production, I don't see how prices could fall strongly and quickly.''

The 70 percent increase in oil prices over the past year has benefited mostly producing countries, he said. While companies have gained too, they need the money for investment.

Suggesting that prices at the pump in France may not fall if oil prices continue to rise, de Margerie said distribution margins in France are among the lowest in Europe. He noted that Total's pump prices are currently the same as in November.

Total is also interested in nuclear power, which is ``necessary to meet future needs,'' de Margerie said.

Total owns about 1 percent of Areva SA, the world's largest builder of nuclear power plants. The French government has said it is reviewing options for Areva, including a share sale or an industrial tie-up.

De Margerie said Total's nuclear plans may ``not necessarily'' be through Areva. Last month de Margerie told Les Echos newspaper that Total isn't interested in acquiring a stake in Areva.

To contact the reporter on this story: Vidya Root at [e-mail]

Last Updated: January 5, 2008 06:44 EST

[waldron] 25/12/2007 10:30

Kazakhstan Seeks to Double Kashagan Oil Project Stake to 16.8%

By Nariman Gizitdinov

Dec. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Kazakhstan is seeking to more than double its stake in the Eni SpA-led Kashagan oil project as compensation for delays and cost overruns.

The Central Asian country's government is seeking to raise its stake to 16.8 percent, Dinara Shaimardanova, an aide to Energy Minister Sauat Mynbayev, said today by phone from the Kazakh capital, Astana. The state currently holds 8.3 percent.

The government has disputed a second delay to the start of production at Kashagan, the world's biggest oil discovery in 30 years, and an increase in costs that it says have more than doubled the price for developing and running the field to $136 billion.

Kazakhstan and the group of companies led by Eni extended talks on the dispute until Jan. 15 as Exxon Mobil Corp. opposes the increase of the Kazakh stake, Shaimardanova said yesterday.

Eni, Exxon, Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc all hold 18.5 percent of Kashagan, while ConocoPhillips has 9.3 percent. KazMunaiGaz National Co., Kazakhstan's state-run oil producer, and Japan's Inpex Corp. each own 8.3 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nariman Gizitdinov in Almaty, through the Moscow newsroom at [e-mail]

Last Updated: December 25, 2007 03:37 EST