Total Share Discussion Threads

[waldron] 06/10/2017 18:11

D enmark's major offshore explorer Maersk Oil is in a strong position to win a contract to produce ultra-light crude from Iran's South Pars gas field and its recent acquisition by France's Total will not adversely affect the potential deal, an official at the National Iranian Oil Co. said.

Karim Zobeidi, the NIOC's deputy for planning, said Maersk Oil is the only foreign firm to have shown serious interest in developing the oil layer of South Pars, the world's largest gas field in the Persian Gulf shared between Iran and Qatar, ISNA reported on Friday.

"Maersk has expressed its interest in the South Pars oil layer project. Several other foreign companies have been invited but none have given a decisive answer. They have neither rejected nor embraced the proposal," he noted.

Asked if the share price oil layer contract would be awarded to Maersk if no other company comes forward, he said, "Yes, that's likely and we welcome the opportunity."

"Maersk has experience in this [offshore exploration and production], having developed the oil layer of the field on the other side," he added, referring to the extension of South Pars oil layer into Qatari waters known as Al Shaheen.

Qatar started crude oil production from the joint field over two decades ago while Iran tapped into the oil layer in March.

The country currently draws crude oil at an average rate of 25,000 barrels per day from the oil layer, using a floating production storage and offloading vessel, and has since star, having since shipped over 3 million barrels.

Confidentiality

Against a backdrop of Maersk Oil's acquisition by Total in a $7.45 billion deal in August and the French company's firm foothold in Iran, Zobeidi said, "If the share price oil project is assigned to Maersk, information on the Iranian side of the project will remain solely with the company."

He expressed confidence in Maersk's confidentiality but said without elaboration that "other groups and organizations are also involved" in safeguarding technical and financial details pertaining to the South Par oil venture.

Experts say it is not yet clear how the acquisition by the French energy giant, which signed a $5 billion deal in June to develop Phase 11 of South Pars, would impact the South Pars oil layer development.

Maersk currently produces oil from the Danish and UK sections of the North Sea, Qatar, Algeria and Kazakhstan.

Officials say that Maersk can help increase output from share price oil layer by five times the current level.

NIOC plans to employ enhanced oil recovery methods to boost the extraction rate in fields by 35%. South Pars oil layer is located 130 kilometers off Iran's coast in the Persian Gulf with an estimated 7 billion barrels of oil in place, but it is hard to put an accurate estimate on the volume unless more exploratory wells are drilled.

Despite faring poorly in production from the oil layer, Tehran says it has matched Qatar's natural gas extraction rate from the giant field that is reportedly at 550-600 million cubic meters per day.

Iran plans to raise gas production to 1.3 billion cubic meters a day from more than 800 mcm/d in five years, counting big on its mega South Pars project that accounts for more than two-thirds of its gas supply.

[grupo guitarlumber] 04/10/2017 09:08

Energy

Wednesday, October 04, 2017
Total Reaffirms Pledge to Stand by Iran Gas Deal

F rench energy major Total reiterated its pledge to a major gas project in Iran despite concerns that the actions of US President Donald Trump against the nuclear accord with Tehran could throw the gas deal into uncertainty, according to a report by Financial Times.

Total signed a $5 billion deal in July to develop Phase 11 of South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf, becoming the first major western company to enter the Iranian energy market after last year's lifting of international sanctions.

A decision by Trump not to endorse the nuclear deal could create challenges for new investments by western companies in the Middle East nation. Trump is expected to certify Iran's compliance with the accord in about 10 days.

But Total Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne threw his support behind the gas deal, asserting that the world's fourth-largest gas company will stick to the South Pars project even if the US pulls out of the deal.

“We knew when we signed that it will not be an easy road … But I prefer to have a problem to solve and to have the opportunity rather than having not signed [and] no opportunities,”; he said in Washington on Tuesday.

Pouyanne had cast doubt on the share price Phase 11 project when he said in February that the French major was waiting for an extension of the waiver on US sanctions against Iran.

"Total's new deal with Iran is aimed at producing natural gas for consumption inside Iran," he said in an interview with Bloomberg on the sidelines of a business conference in the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence on Friday.

On the heels of signing the gas deal in July, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said sanctions would not directly affect the parties involved in the Phase 11 project.

Total holds a 50.1% stake in Phase 11 along with state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation with 30% and Iran's Petropars with a 19.9% share.

Iranian officials say Total is also in advanced negotiations on building a petrochemical plant in Iran. The company has reportedly reached a preliminary agreement to build three petrochemical plants, with a total capacity of 2.2 million tons in a deal that, if finalized, could see the French oil major investing up to $2 billion in Iran.

[grupo guitarlumber] 03/10/2017 15:45

Morgan Stanley takes his view of the energy sector to "attractive", considering that the six-year phase of decline for the petroleum industry on the stock exchange is about to end. If the analysts of the American bank do not doubt that the sector will undergo a structural transformation in the coming decades due to the evolution of the energy mix, at the moment it is a cyclical recovery that is taking shape to oil and gas producers. Downward pressures on prices have fallen and for the third consecutive year, demand is growing faster than its historical average, gradually blotting excess supply despite fears of shale development and compliance of the OPEC production reduction agreement. In addition, Morgan Stanley believes the current favorable conditions for downstream margins, with a decline in inventories of refined products faster than stocks of crude. By adding to these factors the diligent efforts made by oil companies to reduce their costs and improve return on their investments, analysts expect a significant improvement in free cash flow and valuations. In this context, Morgan Stanley's preferred values, as well as Rosneft and Tupras among the emerging players. In its report, the consulting firm said it would also raise its target on Total to 51 euros, instead of 47.50 euros. ([e-mail]) ed: ECH

[waldron] 02/10/2017 13:29

Three of the oil majors have signed a carbon storage deal on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

Shell, Statoil and Total have formed a partnership to develop full-scale carbon capture and storage in Norway.

In June, Gassnova awarded Statoil the contract for the first phase of the project. Norske Shell and Total E&P Norge are now entering as equal partners while Statoil will lead the project. All the partners will contribute people, experience, and financial support.

“Statoil believes that without carbon capture and storage, it is not realistic to meet the global climate target as defined in the Paris Agreement. A massive scale up of number of CCS projects are needed and collaboration and sharing of knowledge are essential to accelerating the development. We are very pleased to have Shell and Total as partners and believe their experience and capabilities will further strengthen this project” said Irene Rummelhoff, Statoil’s executive vice president for New Energy Solutions.
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The project will be designed to accommodate additional CO2 volumes aiming to stimulate new commercial carbon capture projects in Norway, Europe and more globally across the world.

The storage project will store CO2 captured from onshore industrial facilities in Eastern Norway. This CO2 will be transported by ship from the capture facilities to a receiving terminal located onshore on the west-coast of Norway. At the receiving terminal CO2 will be transferred from the ship to intermediate storage tanks, prior to being sent through a pipeline on the seabed to injection wells east of the Troll field on the NCS. There are three possible locations for the receiving terminal; a final selection will be made later this year.

The first phase of this CO2 project could reach a capacity of approximately 1.5 million ton per year.

Monika Hausenblas, Shell’s executive vice president for Environment and Safety, said: “Shell sees CCS as a transformative technology that can significantly reduce emissions from those industrial sectors that will continue to rely on hydrocarbons for decades to come. Shell has significant experience of working with governments and other experts to support the development and wide-scale deployment of CCS and are pleased to be joining forces with our joint venture partners.”

The collaboration will form basis for establishing a further partnership for the construction and operational phases.

Philippe Sauquet, president of Gas, Renewables & Power and President, Strategy-Innovation at Total, added: “Total is integrating the climate challenge into its strategy. Total’s involvement in this first commercial-scale storage project, is thus fully aligned with our low carbon roadmap and our strategy to ultimately become a global CCUS leader.

“The aim of this first integrated industrial-scale project, supported by the Norwegian Government, is to develop viable, reproducible commercial CCUS model in view of carrying out other major projects around the world.”

[grupo guitarlumber] 29/9/2017 08:48

Total nears deal to invest $10B in Iran's petrochemical industry
29 September 2017 09:31 (UTC+04:00)

27

Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 28

By Khalid Kazimov – Trend:

After a $5 billion deal with Iran to develop its southern gas field, South Pars, reached in July, Total is now preparing to conclude another huge agreement with the Middle Eastern nation to develop its petrochemical industry.

Movaied Hossaini Sadr, an advisor to Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, said that the French giant has expressed interest in investing $10 billion in Iran’s petrochemical industry, the state-owned news channel IRINN reported.

"The investment deal is going through the final phases and will be signed soon," he said.

The official added that Germany’s BASF and Linde as well as a Japanese company are also in talks with Iran to cooperate in the country’s petrochemical industry.

He further touched upon forecasts on reduction of gas reserves in Saudi Arabia and described Iran as a serious source of feedstock for petrochemical plants.

Iran’s current capacity for producing petrochemical products stands at 60 million tons and the country is drawing up plans to boost the figure to 110 million tons.

[grupo guitarlumber] 27/9/2017 15:15

Maersk Oil said Wednesday that its acquisition by Total SA (TOT) is on track for closure during the first quarter of 2018, while the French oil major has made its first management appointments to the future combined business.

Total agreed to acquire the oil unit of Danish conglomerate A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S (MAERSK-B.KO) last month for $4.95 billion in a deal that will help the French energy company bolster its position among the world's largest oil companies, potentially boosting its earnings and cash flow, and shoring up its ability to pay dividends.

Following successful closure of the deal, Maersk Oil's Chief Operating Officer Martin Rune Pedersen will become Vice President of Total's operations in Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Troels Albrechtsen, Chief Technology Officer at Maersk Oil, will become Vice President for the technical center to be established in Copenhagen. The center will be part of Total's global technical organization, supplementing existing centers in Paris and Pau, France.

"I am pleased to see Total's continued commitment to maximize the full value of Maersk Oil's operational and technical capabilities and the positioning of a strong Danish leadership team in their North Sea business," said Claus V. Hemmingsen, Chief Executive of Maersk's energy division.

Gretchen Watkins, the current Chief Executive of Maersk Oil, will leave the company when Total's acquisition successfully closes. She will continue to lead Maersk Oil until then.



-Write to Dominic Chopping at [e-mail]; Twitter: @domchopping @WSJNordics



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 27, 2017 05:59 ET (09:59 GMT)

[la forge] 25/9/2017 23:38

BET I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE SURPRISED BY THE RANKINGS

[waldron] 24/9/2017 15:16

Iran named world’s third largest gas producer
Sun Sep 24, 2017 11:57AM

HomeIranEnergy

The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest report said Iran was the world’s third largest producer of natural gas in 2016.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest report said Iran was the world’s third largest producer of natural gas in 2016.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest report on the status of the global energy market said that was the world’s third largest producer of natural gas in 2016.

The IEA in its report said Iran had produced 190 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas last year which it said was 5.3 percent of world’s total.

The agency in its report said the US and Russia were the leading gas producers over the same period adding that their outputs stood at 749 bcm (20.7 percent) and 644 bcm (17.7 percent), respectively.

The next top producers were Canada (174 bcm – 4.8 percent) and Qatar (165 bcm – 4.6 percent).

The IEA further in its report identified Iran as the world’s fifth producer of crude oil in 2016. Top on the list in the same category was Saudi Arabia followed by Russia, the US and Canada.

On the same front, Iran’s total oil production in 2016 was 200 tonnes or 4.6 percent of a global total of 4,300 tonnes.

Saudi Arabia was the leading producer with 583 tonnes (13.5 percent) followed by Russia (546 tonnes – 12.6 percent), the US (537 tonnes – 12.4 percent) and Canada (220 tonnes – 5.1 percent).

Elsewhere in its report, the IEA named the US, France, Russia and China as the world’s leading countries in terms of production of electricity from nuclear energy.

The report identified Iran’s share in the same category as small.

Iran is considered to have the world’s largest reserves of natural gas and its current production stands at around 660 million cubic meters per day. The country also has the world’s fourth largest oil reserves and its current output is believed to be above 3 million barrels per day.

[waldron] 22/9/2017 09:09

Total: agreement with Chevron in the Gulf of Mexico.
Total (EU: FP)
Intraday stock chart

Today: Friday 22 September 2017
More Graphs from the Total Exchange
- Total announces that its subsidiary Total E & P USA has entered into an agreement covering seven exploration prospects operated by Chevron in the deep offshore of the Gulf of Mexico in the United States, an agreement that covers 16 blocks.

The prospects in question are located in two highly prospective areas of the Gulf of Mexico: the Wilcox in the central part near the Anchor discovery and the Norphlet in the eastern part near the Appomattox discovery.

The participation of the French oil company in these wells will be between 25% and 40%. Operations on the first of these wells began at the end of July on the Ballymore prospect in the area called Mississippi Canyon.

[ariane] 21/9/2017 17:36

Total: in the green before its day investors.
Total (EU: FP)
Intraday stock chart

Today: Thursday 21 September 2017
More Graphs from the Total Exchange
The title ends the meeting in the green before the major French oil company organized, on September 25 in London, its annual investor day.

UBS maintains its board of directors on the stock. The target price of 12 months remains fixed at 49 euros.

After a presentation of the strategic outlook, on September 25, Total will organize a two-day analyst trip to Russia, which will detail the group's strategy in this country and visit the Yamal LNG site.

Weak oil prices, shale hydrocarbons, energy transition and climate change: there is no shortage of challenges for the petroleum sector. But with the recovery in oil prices until August and September, and since the 'majors' proved that they kept their costs in the first and second quarters, we think it is interesting to look at the case of investment, "notes a note.

UBS also expects further details on projects under development, prospects for growth in production, generation of cash, or payment terms for the dividend

[la forge] 21/9/2017 15:39

The world's biggest container-ship operator sharpens focus on core business

By Dominic Chopping and Costas Paris

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (September 21, 2017).

A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S on Wednesday said it would sell its tankers unit to its controlling shareholder for $1.17 billion, the latest move by the Danish shipping and energy conglomerate to break up its sprawling operations and focus on container shipping.

The sale of Maersk Tankers A/S, one of the world's largest operators of oil tankers, follows on the conglomerate's decision a year ago to separate its transport and energy businesses.

Under that plan, Maersk announced last month the sale of its Maersk Oil unit to France's Total SA for $4.95 billion. It still has its Maersk Drilling division, which operates oil and gas rigs mainly in the North Sea, and Maersk Supply, a fleet of 44 support ships for offshore operations, to sell or list.

Maersk Chief Executive Soren Skou said Wednesday the sale of Maersk Tankers represents "an important step in our strategy to free up resources and focus growth in A.P. Moeller-Maersk on container shipping, ports and logistics."

The company is trying to reshape itself into a global supply-chain player like United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. The shipping unit, Maersk Line, is the world's biggest container operator in terms of capacity.

The tankers unit is being bought by APMH Invest A/S, a subsidiary of A.P. Moller Holding A/S -- the controlling shareholder of A.P. Moller-Maersk. After the sale is completed, the buyer plans to establish a consortium with Japan's Mitsui & Co. Ltd. to hold the tankers business.

Headed by Maersk family heir Robert Uggla, A.P. Moller Holding is a private investment arm that controls 41.5% of Maersk shares and 51% of shareholder votes. It also controls 20% of Danske Bank, one of Denmark's largest financial institutions.

A.P. Moller Holding said it is looking for other acquisitions as part of its strategy to develop a new portfolio of companies. It recently set up A.P. Moller Capital, which will invest in infrastructure projects.

Maersk has owned the tanker business since 1928. The unit transports refined oil products around the world, has a fleet of 161 vessels and employs 3,100 people. Maersk said it would use the proceeds from the sale to reduce debt.

Mitsui is one of Japan's biggest trading companies, with interests in energy, chemicals, food, textiles, logistics and machinery. Its assets are worth $102.7 billion and its revenue for its most recent fiscal year was $39 billion.

Corrections & Amplifications Maersk Chief Executive Soren Skou said Wednesday's sale represented "an important step in our strategy." An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the day as Thursday. (Sept. 20, 2017)

Write to Dominic Chopping at [e-mail] and Costas Paris at [e-mail]



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 21, 2017 05:15 ET (09:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

[waldron] 21/9/2017 09:43

The Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition has given the green light to the extension of the exclusive "Guyane Maritime" hydrocarbon exploration license, held by Total off the overseas department, according to a decree published Thursday in the newspaper official.


Total, together with Shell and a subsidiary of the British company Tullow Oil, both now withdrawn from the project, obtained this exploration license in 2011 and ended in June 2016.


This exclusive license is now valid "until 1 June 2019", specifies the decree and it is the only one that will be subject to such authorization in Guyana, under the future law to end production French hydrocarbon market by 2040.


The law, which the government wants to have adopted by the end of the year, does not intend to renew the concessions of existing farms beyond 2040.


However, in order to avoid any risk of litigation, the State intends to authorize the granting of an operating concession in the wake of a possible discovery and to extend the exclusive research permits already allocated.


It is this last point that is worth to Total this extension of the permit "Guyana Maritime".


After an initial discovery of oil during a first drilling in 2011, the additional drilling hitherto proved unsuccessful.




(END) Dow Jones Newswires


September 21, 2017 03:54 ET (07:54 GMT)

[ariane] 20/9/2017 21:57

Ex-dividend date for the remainder of the 2016 dividend
September 25, 2017

[ariane] 20/9/2017 19:18

Is Artificial Intelligence The Next Step In Total's Tech Push?
By Irina Slav - Sep 20, 2017, 11:00 AM CDT AI

France’s top oil player Total has once again demonstrated that it is wasting no time to prepare for the future realities of an increasingly green, increasingly digital world. The company is in talks with Google and Microsoft regarding the development of custom-made artificial intelligence for the oil industry.

The Telegraph quoted Total’s Chief Information Officer Frederic Gimenez as saying engineers from the company were working with software developers to find ways of implementing complex algorithms in oil and gas exploration and production.

Speaking at the FT Digital Energy conference, Gimenez said, “We have a strong knowledge of exploration and seismic analysis. But they are the ones who are the best in artificial intelligence. This has obliged our people to work with completely different partners and to merge our knowledge to find a new way to make oil and gas discoveries.”

The next step after the talks could involve closing some formal partnership agreements, according to a Total spokeswoman. For now, however, the company is testing the waters, she said.

Meanwhile, Total is pursuing its green agenda. Yesterday, it announced two acquisitions that would strengthen its renewable power generation portfolio, and expand its presence on the European energy efficiency market.

The first deal was the acquisition of a 23-percent interest in French solar and wind power generation capacity developer EREN RE. Total has agreed to pay US$285 million (237.5 million euro) for the stake and has the option of taking over the company after five years. The target has a portfolio of 650 MW in installed capacity and plans to boost this to over 3 GW. Total, for its part, aims to have total renewable installed capacity of 5 GW by 2022.

The second deal is a takeover of another local company, energy efficiency solutions developer Greenflex. Without disclosing the size of the acquisition, Total noted that Greenflex is among the leaders in its industry with more than 600 clients and projected revenues of over US$420 million (350 million euro) for this year.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com