Total Share Discussion Threads

[la forge] 12/3/2016 12:07

US, French Oil Cos to explore gas here
2016-03-10 08:53:07
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Two leading US companies in oil and gas exploration – Exxon Mobil and Lambert Oil and the world’s third biggest producer of petroleum products -Total Oil of France - have expressed willingness to invest in Sri Lanka for oil and gas exploration and the French Company has already signed an agreement worth US$ 25 million for a project, Petroleum Resources Development Minister Chandima Weerakkody said yesterday.

Minister Weerakkody addressing the weekly SLFP news briefing said the Total Oil has started selecting sub contractors from among local companies to start exploration in the eastern Sri Lanka.
“We were able to have several meetings with a number of US oil exploration giants at a global oil and gas exploration meeting held recently in the US and these two companies expressed interests to invest in Sri Lanka for oil exploration.

“The Petroleum Resources Development Ministry continues to interact with the two companies and a fact finding delegations from the two companies are expected in Sri Lanka shortly,” Minister Weerakkody said.

Responding to a journalist on the proposed Price Formula for fuel, Minister Weerakkody said the Finance Ministry was studying the formula to come up with the most suitable way to implement it.
“Before, we activate the price formula for fuel we will have to look at the implications and protect the interests of the entire country. Do not forget that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) was in dire straits and is burdened with heavy debts before global oil prices were tumbled,” he said.

“The Total debt of the CPC stood at Rs. 365 billion by the end of 2014. The total monthly debt service stood at Rs. 1.3 billion that included loan repayment and interest.

“The government can bring down fuel prices by two or three rupees but it will benefit only the motorists and further aggravates the issue debt servicing.

“The entire country would be benefited if the Government brings down prices of several essential commodities including fuel and electricity prices, when the CPC is in a better financial position, with no more financial burdens,” Minister Weerakkody said.

He blamed Mahinda Rajapaksa regime for privatising the lubricant business and added a new State owned company would be set up to produce lubricants at a cost of US$ 13 million in the next few weeks.

The Cabinet approval for the project was received on last Wednesday.

Commenting on the fuel import business, Minister Weerakkody said there would no monopoly in oil imports under this Government and all those who could import oil cheap and in a transparent manner would be given tenders and a Cabinet sub-committee would go through each and every oil import tender.

He said there were so many under-hand dealings during the time of last regime that took the CPC from a position of danger to disaster and the Cabinet was not aware of the controversial hedging deal that cost the CPC US$ 123 million to pay as compensation to a number of foreign banks.

However, Minister Weerakkody said the Government would pass the benefit of the collapse of global oil price at the most appropriate time that would benefit the economy and the public and added the day to receive good news would not be too far. (Sandun A Jayasekera)
- See more at:

[la forge] 12/3/2016 10:17

Where next for Brent crude?
09:07 12 Mar 2016

This week, I need to get all ‘teacher-ish’ with the chart below and explain my thinking with regard price projections for Brent crude.

Currently the price is seen as heading to around US$43.13, which from my perspective is fairly interesting.

Since it bounced from US$28, I now need it to close a session above US$42.28to tick the final box in an argument which favours continued growth to US$46.84.

The chart shows this presents an interesting picture as it hints the price will clamber once again above its historical uptrend since 2008.

To be realistic, I would generally demand a price close a session to confirm a historical trend has been bettered.

As this particular trend against red line was very much a last straw before the drip to US$28, closure above is liable to be viewed as pretty significant. The result I'd tend anticipate future strength to US$63.50.

At such a level, I start to have a problem as the price of Brent is more than liable to invent a glass ceiling due to the highs of 2015.

From my point of view Brent look like it will be trapped in the US$40-60 range for a while.

Finally, there is another little detail worth mentioning. Until Brent actually closes above that red trend line, a stonking argument remains for weakness again to US$28 and a secondary of US$15 is a viable prospect if the target drop level breaks. I think this unlikely but my software insists I mention it.

Alistair Strang is founder of www.trendsandtargets.com

[ariane] 10/3/2016 13:19

What Form of Witchcraft Allowed Total S.A. To Reduce Debt In 2015?
In 2015, Chevron's long-term debt ballooned by 40%. Total managed to decrease the leverage on its balance sheet.

Tot Gas Investor Presentation

Image Source: Total investor presentation

The collective balance sheets of the oil and gas industry are feeling the strain from 2015. Cash flows outflows far exceeded cash generated from operations. Investors might be interested to learn that one of the six majors -- French oil and gas heavyweight Total (NYSE: TOT) -- bucked this trend. This company actually decreased the amount of debt on its balance sheet over the course of 2015.

Such an achievement begs the question "how"?

Does the company have some sort of advantage over the rest of the industry?

Does the company produce oil and gas in some sort of exotic locale where commodity prices did not plummet?

Was some form of voodoo involved?

Image

Source: Total.

How did Total manage that?
To determine how Total managed to escape 2015 without increasing its net debt requires a tour of the company's cash flow statement. That's where we'll find out where the cash came from and went for Total in 2015.

Cash flow from operations in 2015 was $19.9 billion, a $5.6 billion drop from 2014. Against that $19.9 billion of cash generated, Total had capital expenditures of $25.6 billion and paid dividends of $2.8 billion. Combined capex and dividends totaled $28.4 billion, which means that Total outspent operating cash flow by $8.5 billion.

Since we know that Total's total net debt decreased during the year, we need to look further to determine how Total covered that spending excess while not adding debt.

Total's cash flow statement reveals that the company raised $5.1 billion from selling assets and subsidiaries and another $5.6 billion from issuing perpetual subordinated notes. Combined, these items cover the amount that Total outspent cash flow by and left some cash to reduce debt.

So while Total's net debt did decrease from the beginning of 2015, it isn't because the company had a magic formula that made it immune to low oil prices. Total just chose to cover its cash flow shortfall through asset sales and a perpetual note issuance.

For some real balance sheet deterioration, we need to have a look at Chevron (NYSE: CVX).

Even for a supermajor, that's a big increase in debt
In 2015, Chevron generated $19.5 billion of cash flow from operations. Against that $19.5 billion of cash coming in, $38.6 billion went out the door for capital expenditures and dividends.

While Total needed to cover $8.5 billion of outspending of operating cash flow, Chevron had to come up with $19.1 billion.

Chevron sold $5.7 billion worth of assets to cover part of this and dug into its cash balance for another $2.6 billion. The remainder of the $19.1 billion of outspending was funded by a $10.8 billion increase in long-term debt.

Even for a company as big as Chevron, that's adding a lot of debt in a pretty short time frame. Chevron started 2015 with long-term debt of $27.8 billion and ended the year with $38.6 billion, an increase of nearly 40% in just one year.
Selected Balance Sheet Account Data 31-Dec-15 31-Dec-14

Cash and Cash Equivalents 11,022 12,785
Time Deposits 0 8
Marketable Securities 310 422
Total Assets 266,103 266,026
Total Debt 38,592 27,818
Total Stockholders Equity 152,716 155,028

Source: Chevron.

What is 2016 going to look like for these companies?
Both Total and Chevron outspent cash flow by quite a wide margin in 2015. What's going to happen in 2016 now that oil prices have dropped another $20 per barrel from what they averaged last year?

For Chevron, capital spending is going to drop from $34 billion to $26.6 billion.

Image

Source: Chevron Q4 earnings presentation.

Given that operating cash flow in 2015 was $19.1 billion with higher oil prices than we currently have, Chevron, with a $26.2 billion capex budget, is going to again be significantly outspending cash flow, especially once the dividend is factored in. There will be some help in closing that spending gap with long lead-time project Gorgon LNG starting up. That will remove a source of cash outflows in 2015 and turn into a cash inflow in 2016.

Total's initial 2016 plan, which was released back in September, called for $20 billion to $21 billion of capital spending, which would also be well in excess of the cash flow the company could be expected to generate.

Image

Source: Total 2015 investor day presentation.



Some Hard Choices In 2016
To cover this overspending, these companies are going to have to make pick from a few options, none of which are terribly attractive. Declining cash flows are already leveraging up these companies' balance sheets (debt to cash flow ratios increase), so funding overspending with more debt just worsens the problem.

Selling assets is another option, but this far into a brutal commodity price collapse, purchase prices have to be much less than they once were. Plus, selling assets often involves selling cash flows which also increases leverage.

Issuing stock is a third route, and it also has a drawback in that share prices are at much lower levels than they have been in recent years. That makes any equity issuance more dilutive to shareholders. Total has been slowly diluting shareholders already with its scrip dividend program, which issues new shares as a form of dividend payment instead of cash to those that sign up for it.

The reality is that there is no easy way out for anyone in this industry. The best solution these companies have is for oil and natural gas prices to turn higher. Until that happens, life is going to be full of tough decisions. Chevron has avoided diluted shareholders but its balance sheet has paid the price. If oil turns higher sooner rather than later that will turn out to be the right move. Personally I'd be fine with companies eliminating dividends when commodity prices collapse in order to preserve balance sheet strength. I know the market wouldn't like it but isn't that what you would do with your own business? A little short term pain in the best interests of long term financial strength shouldn't be too hard to take.

[grupo] 09/3/2016 21:54

Low Oil Price Challenges Total's Deep Offshore Philosophy
Mark Thomas, Hart Energy
Wednesday, March 9, 2016 - 11:45am Print
Total, deepwater, oil, price, FPSO Pazflor, offshore, Angola

Total's deepwater FPSO Pazflor unit in Block 17 offshore Angola is bridge-linked to the Jascon 31 accommodation and construction vessel. (Source: Total)

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The deepwater business has always been a long-term game for Total. Despite the latest lows being tested by the oil price, the operator’s deep offshore business remains one that it has reaffirmed it wants to and is continuing to grow.

Its share of global deep offshore production (in more than 500 m [1,640 ft] of water) will rise to 15% by 2017, it forecasts, with its own projects flowing from an average water depth of 1,200 m (3,937 ft). That production stream will be gathered by a total of nine FPSO units, two floating production units (FPUs), and between 450 and 500 subsea wells, representing a total capacity of 1.8 MMbbl/d of oil.

With the industry close but not yet producing in more than 3,000 m (9,843 ft) of water, the operator already is talking on the record about achieving field development activities in up to 4,000 m (13,124 ft) within the next 10 years.

4,000 m By 2025
Total has an outstanding pedigree, of course. It has pioneered some of the deepest projects in the world so far, including its flagship developments offshore Angola such as Girassol, Dalia, Pazflor and CLOV (Cravo, Lirio, Orquida and Violeta).

The operator’s head of technology innovation at Total E&P UK, Jeremy Cutler, pointed out at the SPE Offshore Europe Conference and Exhibition in Aberdeen recently that, “By the year 2020 a water depth of 3,000 m—from an oil development perspective—seems to be achievable. We see that by 2025 the expectation is that 4,000 m will be achieved.”

The company deems anything beyond 1,500 m (4,921 ft) as ultradeep water and has dubbed the new frontier beyond 3,000 m as simply “frontier deep water.” With more than 50% of its exploration portfolio in deep and ultradeep water, Total has a vested interest in R&D and enhancing new and existing deepwater production solutions. Cutler said simply that, “It will be very much a big part of our future and where much of our production revenue is going to come from.”

The current difficulty remains the high development costs associated with these types of technology-intensive projects, which make them hard to launch in the low oil price environment. But as a result, Total and the industry as a whole are being forced to study more ways to reduce costs.

“The challenge for us now, going forward, is how do we go deeper, longer—and cheaper?” he said. Cutler flagged up Total and also Royal Dutch Shell as leading the push to develop frontier deepwater areas, with the industry’s established group of majors as a whole generally holding by far the largest average areas in terms of frontier deepwater acreage.

Technology Gaps
Each new field brings its own technology challenge, Cutler said, and the current technology gaps for frontier deepwater facilities remain plentiful.

Some have been well-known for a while, such as the multiple flow assurance challenges related to transporting the hydrocarbons back to the surface facility “across what is clearly a wide pressure and temperature domain.” Cutler pointed out that below 600 m (1,969 ft) the water temperature is about -4 C (25 F), while at 1,500 m the hydrostatic pressure is 150 bar.

Other frontier deepwater gaps to be further researched and qualified include pipelay techniques and riser installation and maintenance, the mooring of FPSO units, subsea power distribution and water injection, seabed separation, multiphase pumps, and electric submersible pumps (qualified up to 6,000 m [19,685 ft] in wells).

Tieback Limits
According to Cutler, these will all help the industry on its mission to increase the length of step-outs and tiebacks, especially for oil, which currently stands at about 70 km (43 miles) at relatively shallow-water depths.

In deep water, the benchmark figure so far has been set by Murphy Oil with its Dalmatian South tieback in nearly 2,000 m (6,562 ft) of water in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), reaching more than 40 km (25 miles) to the Petronius compliant tower platform in shallower waters. There are deeper tiebacks than this, of course, but the distance reduces accordingly. For example, Petrobras’s Cascade Chinook oil and gas project in more than 2,500 m (8,202 ft) of water in the GoM has subsea tiebacks but of less than 25 km (15.5 miles) in length.

For gas, Cutler added, “it’s a little bit different, with the step-outs already longer.” Total’s own Tobermory subsea gas tieback, for example, is nearly 180 km (112 miles) in length, in a water depth of more than 1,500 m.

Subsea-to-beach
According to Cutler, Total is on a similar path as Statoil, with a serious long-term ambition to establish a subsea factory solution. “Eventually we want to remove the floater from the equation and go subsea-to-beach,R21; he said. “We have in our R&D program a number of different projects related to the so-called subsea factory concept.”

Multiphase production results in a high back pressure at the wellhead and the loss of potential deepwater reserves. So subsea processing segments such as the separation of gas and liquids and pressure boosting technologies will be required, he stressed. At present, 3,000 m or more “looks to be achievable with existing technologies, but not for subsea compression,” he commented.

Laggan-Tormore Reality
Total’s subsea-to-beach vision already has become reality. The company’s deepwater Laggan-Tormore gas-condensate field West of Shetland offshore the U.K. has been in the development phase for several years, but the field became operational early in February 2016.

The frontier project in 600 m of water is enabling an 18.8-MMcm/d (665-MMcf/d and 90 Mboe/d) gas export route from the area, with Cutler admitting Laggan-Tormore has been “a challenging project for us” but one that has been “a good test of subsea-to-beach.R21; The subsea-to-beach development is the first of its kind in the U.K. offshore sector and consists of a 143-km (89-mile) tieback of four initial subsea wells to a new onshore gas plant on the Shetland Islands with a capacity of 14 MMcm/d (500 MMcf/d). The nearby Edradour and Glenlivet discoveries will be developed in the next development phase.

Following treatment at the plant, the gas is being exported to the mainland via the Shetland Island Regional Gas Export System, while the condensates are exported via the Sullom Voe Terminal. Total E&P UK operates Laggan-Tormore with a 60% interest with DONG E&P (UK) Ltd. (20%) and SSE E&P UK Ltd. (20%).

Total’s deepwater FPSO Pazflor unit in Block 17 offshore Angola is bridge-linked to the Jascon 31 accommodation and construction vessel. (Source: Total)

FPSO, Subsea Solutions
Cutler also went on to highlight the work that Total has previously done on some of its biggest recent developments offshore Angola, where the use of FPUs in combination with innovative subsea technologies has enabled FPSO units to be a vital building block in the company’s development portfolio.

In particular, he flagged up Total’s CLOV project in 1,400 m (4,593 ft) of water, which came onstream mid-2014 and where it employed helico axial subsea multiphase pumps for the first time—a technology it sees as crucial for improving reservoir recovery rates. “This was essentially four field developments in one and made four uneconomic fields economic. We used a standard building block—the FPSO unit—but used it very flexibly. It was the subsea side of it and the reservoir systems that were the biggest challenge,” he said.

Cutler also highlighted the Pazflor development, where the company developed both light (Oligocene) and heavy (Miocene) oil reservoirs using a combination of bottom riser gas lift, three 1,000-tonne subsea separation units and six multiphase pumps—an industry first for two-phase separation and liquid boosting at the mud line. These pump the oil and gas to what was the world’s largest FPSO unit when Pazflor first started flowing in 2011.

Asked at the Offshore Europe Conference how the industry can prove the business case for subsea processing projects going forward, Cutler concluded that the industry had to “simply work harder” to get around the problems. “These deepwater fields are bigger, which really helps the economics. However, the oil price is making us work that much harder to get a solution that works.”

[maywillow] 01/3/2016 21:32

Dividends for holders of Total shares traded on the Euronext Paris

March 21, 2016
Ex-dividend date for the 3rd 2015 interim dividend
April 12, 2016
Payment date for the 3rd 2015 interim dividend

[maywillow] 01/3/2016 21:29

Next div ex-date Jun 06 2016
Next div pay-date Jun 23 2016

[ariane] 27/2/2016 11:27

Iran ready to sign $20bn oil deal
oil
News ID: 3567154 - Sat 27 February 2016 - 10:42
Economy
TEHRAN, Feb. 27 (MNA) – IOOC managing director has announced that oil investment opportunities worth 20 billion dollars are available in the Persian Gulf.

Managing Director of the Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) Saeid Hafezi described the most important oil and gas investment opportunities in the Persian Gulf region stating “currently, various talks have been conducted with European and Asian companies over the implementation of new oil and gas projects in the Persian gulf as well as Strait of Hormuz.”

Hafezi highlighted that negotiations have been held with Italy's Eni, France’s Total as well as an Austrian company; “despite consultations, no contract has been sealed yet.”

The official further said the value of investment opportunities in the oil and gas industries in the Persian Gulf reaches about 15 to 20 billion dollars; “a portion of the investment pertained to the expansion of new oil and gas fields which is being pursued by Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC).”

“Meanwhile, the rest of the negotiations deal with development of old and ongoing fields,” underlined the official asserting “the most important goals include increasing the recovery factor of production in compliance with the preservation principles.”

Hafezi also described some new investment opportunities in Iran’s oil and gas industry including expansion of Soroush, Norouz, Abuzar,Hengam, Doroud in addition to a number of other joint oil and gas fields.

IOOC managing director had previously said all new oil projects will be carried out with increased harvest from joint fields as top priority.

[maywillow] 26/2/2016 10:47

Frech oil giant Total fined over Iraq 'oil-for-food'
French oil gian Total fined
French oil gian Total fined
French oil gian Total fined
By RFI

French oil giant Total was ordered on appeal Friday to pay 750,000 euros ($827,000) for corruption linked to the UN "oil-for-food" programme established for Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule

The Swiss-based Dutch oil group Vitol was fined 300,000 euros.

They were among more than a dozen individuals and companies who were cleared of corruption in 2013 after an eight-year investigation.

They had been accused of siphoning cash from the $64 billion (54 billion euros) UN programme that allowed Iraq, then under crippling international sanctions, to sell limited quantities of oil to buy humanitarian supplies between 1996 and 2003.

The fine slapped on Total on Friday was the maximum possible at the time of the wrongdoing.

Saddam forced foreign companies involved in the programme to pay a 10 percent surcharge -- accounted for as "transport costs" or "after-sales service" -- which in reality went to the regime's coffers.

A UN inquiry led by former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker alleged in 2005 that the 2,200 companies involved in the programme had paid a total of $1.8 billion in kickbacks to win supply deals. Of those, 180 were French.

[waldron] 14/2/2016 21:58

Total slashes investment amid oil price collapse
Feb 14 2016 21:30

(iStock)
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Paris - French oil company Total said Thursday it had cut its investment target this year as it steps up efforts to drastically cut costs to counter a global collapse in oil prices.

Total said it would invest up to $2bn less in 2016 than originally planned, as it, like other oil giants, grapples with weak oil prices that have slumped around 70% since mid-2014 due to chronic oversupply and on Thursday got close to 13-year lows.

It will now invest only $19bn compared to its earlier plan for $20bn to $21bn, and down from the $23bn it ploughed into investments in 2015, it said in a statement.

From 2017, the figure will then fall to $17bn to $19bn.

"We have to be good on what we can control, our expenses. So we are going to continue to make efforts to control our expenses," chief executive Patrick Pouyanne told reporters.

Total shares closed 3.3% lower on the Paris stock exchange, but still outperformed the wider Paris stock market, which ended down 4.1%.

World oil prices tumbled once more Thursday, nearing a 13-year low, with no end in sight to the global supply glut.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in March hit $26.32 a barrel, close to a 13-year low of under $26.

"It's quite a crisis that this industry is facing," Pouyanne said later Thursday at the International Petroleum week in London.

But he also sounded an upbeat note on the direction of oil prices, saying "I think that the price will be higher at the end of the year 2016 than it is today."

Total said it would also bolster operating cost reductions, which it planned this year would amount to $2.4bn, up from $1.5bn last year.

This would principally be in its upstream exploration activities, with the cut again rising to $3bn in 2017, it added.

And its exploration budget, which was already slashed by around a third last year, will face further trimming by more than 20% to $1.5bn, it said.

A hiring freeze will also continue, Pouyanne said without giving a figure.

Headline net profit jumped 20 percent to $5.1bn in 2015 but Total said its adjusted net profit, excluding the impact of the company's own oil stocks, fell by 18%.

[la forge] 13/2/2016 22:05

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Agenda




Événements financiers



11 Février 2016
Résultats 2015 & Perspectives

27 Avril 2016
Résultats du 1er trimestre 2016
15h (heure de Paris) – 14h (heure de Londres)

28 Juillet 2016
Résultats du 2ème trimestre 2016
15h (heure de Paris) – 14h (heure de Londres)

22 Septembre 2016
Journée investisseurs 2016

28 Octobre 2016
Résultats du 3ème trimestre 2016


Consulter tout l’agenda
Fermer



Dividendes



21 Mars 2016
Détachement du 3e acompte sur dividende au titre de 2015

12 Avril 2016
Mise en paiement du 3e acompte sur dividende 2015

06 Juin 2016
Détachement du solde du dividende 2015

27 Septembre 2016
Détachement du 1er acompte sur dividende 2016

21 Décembre 2016
Détachement du 2e acompte sur dividende 2016

20 Mars 2017
Détachement du 3e acompte sur dividende 2016

05 Juin 2017
Détachement du solde du dividende 2016

- See more at: hxxp://www.total.com/fr/actionnaires/investisseurs...

[waldron] 11/2/2016 08:26

Total Trims Loss on Fewer Write-Downs
11/02/2016 8:10am
Dow Jones News

Total (EU:FP)
Intraday Stock Chart

Today : Thursday 11 February 2016
Click Here for more Total Charts.

LONDON—French oil major Total SA on Thursday said its net loss narrowed in the fourth quarter after it booked fewer write-downs than a year earlier.

Total's net loss in the fourth quarter narrowed to $1.63 billion from $5.66 billion. The company booked write-downs worth $3.7 billion during the quarter, compared with $6.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Adjusted net profit—a closely watched figure that strips out one-time charges such as write-downs and oil-price effects on inventories—fell 26% to $2.08 billion in the quarter.

Revenue fell 28% to $37.75 billion in the fourth quarter, from $52.51 billion in the same period a year earlier.

A group of analysts polled by FactSet expected a quarterly net profit of $1.67 billion and an adjusted net profit of $1.73 billion. Total Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said last month that the company would report a 20% profit decline.

Total said it managed to keep operating profitability despite the recent oil-price collapse due to the increased profitability at its businesses other than oil and gas extraction and an increase in oil and gas production.

Total's narrower loss in the fourth quarter contrasts with the weaker profitability posted earlier this month by the world's largest oil companies, which were hammered by an oil price that is roughly 70% below what it was in mid-2014.

Write to Inti Landauro at [e-mail]



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February 11, 2016 02:55 ET (07:55 GMT)
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