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Total Final 9 month results & Libya



Subject: Total Final 9 month results & Libya, Indonesia news

OMC AND UN SANCTIONS/ TOTAL FINA ELF 
several stories here, scroll down....

You know, Desmarest at TotalFina likes to say, that as long
as the UN or European Union doesnt impose sanctions, his company
is politically correct. Well, Libya has US SANCTIONS and 
it hasnt stopped Desmarest or TOTAL FINA. 


Libya has lost $24 billion in potential oil revenues
since the UN SANCTIONS were imposed in 1992 and is
desperate for investment - due to the drop in the price
of oil more than the embargo.


       "TOTALFINA owns 94.93% of Elf Aquitaine as of end of October.
       The two companies are awaiting approval from the European
       Commission to finalize their merger, and a decision is expected
       in mid-February 2000. Once the merger is completed, the new
       Group will be the largest oil and gas producer in Africa."
	(so says TotalFina, and they are very proud of it.)

============================

Paris, Wednesday, April 7, 1999

Others, such as TOTAL SA of France, OMV AG of Austria,
Repsol SA of Spain and Lundin Oil AB of Sweden, also
 are active in exploring for oil in Libya.
 Europeans Line Up to Join Libya's Awaited Oil Boom
Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp. withdrew in 1982, a year
after a U.S. trade embargo began. And in 1996, the U.S.
Congress tightened sanctions against Iran and Libya,
accusing both of funding terrorism.

                     -------------------------------------------------------
                     By Reed V. Landberg Bloomberg News IHT
                     -------------------------------------------------------
Extract: "Even so, almost nobody expects the United States to
lift sanctions. ''UN sanctions will go, but the U.S. sanctions will be
retained,'' said George Joffe, a scholar on the region
at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, a
London policy consultancy."

 TRIPOLI - European oil companies are preparing for an
                     investment boom in Libya after Tripoli turned over two
                     suspects in the 1988 Pan Am bombing, clearing the way
                     for the United Nations to suspend sanctions.

                     ENI SpA of Italy, already Libya's biggest foreign oil
                     producer, and Lasmo PLC of Britain are among the
                     companies that are planning to expand investments.

                     Their activities will put further strains on continued
                     sanctions that Washington imposed independently on
                     Libya two years before the bombing, in response to
                     terrorist incidents that forced American oil companies
                     to leave the country.

                     On Tuesday, the two Libyan suspects were charged with
                     murder and conspiracy in connection with the bomb that
                     exploded on the Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie,
                     Scotland, killing 270 people. (Page 8)

                     Libya has lost $24 billion in potential oil revenues
                     since the UN sanctions were imposed in 1992 and is
                     desperate for investment - due to the drop in the price
                     of oil more than the embargo.

                     Oil income, accounting for 95 percent of the nation's
                     hard-currency earnings, fell more than one-third last
                     year as crude prices touched 12-year lows. That forced
                     Libya to devalue its currency by 18 percent in
                     December.

                     ''Oil companies will now feel more comfortable in
                     talking with the Libyan government about potential
                     projects,'' said Mohammed Abduljabbar, who is an
                     industry consultant with the Petroleum Finance Co. in
                     Washington. ''It will allow Libya to rehabilitate its
                     oil production.''

                     Lifting UN sanctions means that international flights
                     to Tripoli could be resumed and Libya could buy
                     supplies to refurbish oil-export equipment.

                     While the European Union has no ban on oil drilling in
                     Libya, the six-hour drive from Tunisia to Tripoli is an
                     ordeal that has warded off many Western investors.

                     [''I don't think it is an issue of the money or spare
                     parts,'' Abdel Monem Said Aly, director of Al Ahram
                     Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo,
                     told The Associated Press. ''It is the issue of having
                     political stability to attract foreign investment.''
                     For that stability, he said, air traffic must be free.]

                     [Over the years, Western diplomats and Libyans have
                     acknowledged that the sanctions have done little damage
                     to the country. Libya had domestic suppliers of parts
                     it needed to keep its oil industry running. The air
                     embargo affected imports and exports, but Libya could
                     use its seaports. European countries also continued
                     buying oil from Libya, and several African nations have
                     ignored the sanctions.]

                     Already, Libya has taken steps to welcome back oil
                     companies that left through the 1980s as a combination
                     of UN sanctions and threats against foreigners by the
                     Libyan leader, Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, made the nation
                     a no-go area for Westerners.

                     Later this month at a conference in Geneva, the Libyan
                     oil minister, Abdallah Salim Badri, will announce
                     amendments to the nation's petroleum law, which dates
                     from 1955, and unveil the first major round of bidding
                     for oil exploration rights in four years.

                     Mr. Badri said last month in Vienna that he already had
                     held talks with U.S. oil companies about returning.

                     ''As far as Libya is concerned, they are welcome
                     back,'' Mr. Badri said. ''We already have been in
                     contact with some of our previous partners. We have
                     been contacted by the American oil companies, and we
                     want them to come back to Libya.''

                     With proven oil reserves of about 30 billion barrels -
                     almost as much as has been found in the North Sea -
                     Libya is a prize for the world's oil industry. Lasmo of
                     London pumps Libyan oil for $5 or so per barrel, about
                     half the cost for British drilling.

                     The two-year oil price slump has made Libya's cheap oil
                     even more attractive. Benchmark Brent crude oil prices,
                     currently $14.72 a barrel, are little more than half
                     their 1997 peak price of almost $25. Libyan projects,
                     however, are profitable even if prices slip well below
                     $10 a barrel

                     ENI, based in Rome, produces about 16 percent of
                     Libya's oil, and it discovered the nation's biggest
                     offshore field. The company is seeking customers to
                     back a $3.5 billion investment in new gas production
                     from the Wafa field on Libya's Mediterranean coast and
                     a pipeline under the sea to Italy.

                     Others, such as TOTAL SA of France, OMV AG of Austria,
                     Repsol SA of Spain and Lundin Oil AB of Sweden, also
                     are active in exploring for oil in Libya.

                     Still, the U.S. companies that withdrew in the early
                     1980s after sanctions tightened probably will not be
                     back soon. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan told
                     Occidental Petroleum Corp. and a consortium that
                     includes Marathon Oil Co., Conoco Inc. and Amerada Hess
                     Corp. to pull out after Libyans were linked to the
                     bombing of an Egyptian airliner and a German nightclub.

                     Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp. withdrew in 1982, a year
                     after a U.S. trade embargo began. And in 1996, the U.S.
                     Congress tightened sanctions against Iran and Libya,
                     accusing both of funding terrorism.

                     If U.S. sanctions were lifted, Conoco, Hess and
                     Marathon could have a head start on their rivals, since
                     assets worth about $2 billion, including seven major
                     oil fields, have been held in trust by Libya until
                     sanctions are removed.

                     While the United States has acknowledged that Libya has
                     not sponsored terrorism in at least three years, Jane's
                     Defense Weekly last year reported that intelligence
                     officials were concerned that Libya's $25 billion
                     ''great man-made river'' project could be used to
                     support a chemical-weapons program or to speed troops
                     to Libya's borders. Libya maintains that the irrigation
                     project is to develop agriculture near its northern
                     cities.

                     Even so, almost nobody expects the United States to
                     lift sanctions.

                     ''UN sanctions will go, but the U.S. sanctions will be
                     retained,'' said George Joffe, a scholar on the region
                     at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, a
                     London policy consultancy.

             ==================

---------------------------------------------------------
5 janvier 1998
Copyright PRLine, Yahoo!                                           
TOTAL : Nouvelle découverte en Libye                 

Le consortium comprenant TOTAL (30 %), REPSOL (Espagne)       
(Opérateur, 40 %) et OMV (30 %) vient de réaliser   
une nouvelle découverte significative d'huile sur
le bloc NC-115 situé dans le bassin de Murzuk, au sud de la Libye.

Le puits de découverte M-1 a été testé avec succès, produisant un débit
cumulé d'environ 2 500 barils par jour (b/j) d'une huile légère de bonne
qualité, à partir d'un réservoir sableux présentant une colonne d'huile de
plus de 60 mètres,

A la lumière de ces résultats très positifs, les partenaires du bloc NC-115
envisagent en 1999 le forage de puits additionnels afin de confirmer la
potentiel de la structure et de la mettre en développement. Un autre
prospect a aussi été identifié sur ce bloc et sera foré en 1999.

Sur le bloc NC-115, le champ El Sharara produit depuis décembre 1996 une
huile de bonne qualité, légère et peu soufrée. Sa production actuelle est
d'environ 140 000 b/j et devrait atteindre 200 000 b/j en 1999.

Cette nouvelle découverte sur le bloc NC-115 renforce la position de TOTAL
dans l'amont en Libye et confirme son Intérêt pour le bassin de Murzuk.

=====================
 try this. Your friend from Libya. remember him 

TOTALFINA owns 94.93% of Elf Aquitaine as of end of October.
       The two companies are awaiting approval from the European
       Commission to finalize their merger, and a decision is expected
       in mid-February 2000. Once the merger is completed, the new
       Group will be the largest oil and gas producer in Africa.

       Paris, 18th November 1999

       TOTALFINA Acquires Interest in New Exploration Permit in Libya

       TOTALFINA and its partners Repsol YPF, OMV and Saga have signed
       an agreement with Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) to
       explore the M-4 block in the Murzuk region of southwestern
       Libya. TOTALFINA holds a 24% interest while Repsol YPF holds
       32%, OMV 24% and Saga 20%.

       Block M-4 covers an area of around 12,300 square kilometers in
       the northern region of the Murzuk oil basin. It will be
       operated by Repsol YPF during the exploration phase.

       TOTALFINA is already present in the Murzuk Basin with a 30%
       interest in the NC-115 block, where the El Sharara field is
       currently producing 150,000 b/d of high-quality oil. Output
[Image]from the El Sharara field is expected to reach 200,000 b/d
       within the next few months.

       Also in the Murzuk Basin, TOTALFINA has been a partner on
       blocks NC-186 and NC-187 since November 1997. Substantial
       seismic campaigns have been initiated on these blocks.

       In addition, in the Sirte Basin in northern Libya, the Group is
       operator with a 75% interest in the Mabruk field, which is
       currently producing 18,000 b/d of oil.

       The new agreement confirms TOTALFINA's interest in upstream oil
       segment operations in Libya and fits in with the Group's
       strategy to strengthen its positions in North and West Africa,
       which are major oil and gas provinces.

       TOTALFINA owns 94.93% of Elf Aquitaine as of end of October.
       The two companies are awaiting approval from the European
       Commission to finalize their merger, and a decision is expected
       in mid-February 2000. Once the merger is completed, the new
       Group will be the largest oil and gas producer in Africa.

==========================================

TotalFina November Finanical Report: NINE-MONTH 1999 CONSOLIDATED SALES

       Paris, November 15th, 1999

       TOTALFINA REPORTS NINE-MONTH 1999 CONSOLIDATED SALES OF 190.6
       BILLION FRENCH FRANCS (29.1 BILLION EUROS)

       TOTALFINA reported consolidated sales for the third quarter 1999 of
       75.2 billion French francs (11.5 billion euros) compared to 55.3
       billion French francs (8.4 billion euros) for the third quarter
       1998, an increase of 35.9%. 

       For the first nine months of 1999,
       TOTALFINA reported consolidated sales of 190.6 billion French
       francs (29.1 billion euros) compared to 174.3 billion French francs
       (26.6 billion euros) reported for the pro forma first nine months
       of 1998, an increase of 9.4 %.

                            3rd Quarter                 9 Months

        Millions of            1998  variation            1998   variation
        French francs  1999  (pro        %       1999   (pro         %
                             forma)                     forma)
        Upstream (1)  12,597  8,697   + 44.8%   35,452   32,738   + 8.3%
        Downstream    55,747  38,542  + 44.6%   132,246 118,887   + 11.2%
        Chemicals     14,307  11,935  + 19.9%   41,273   38,080   + 8.4%
        Holding         920    517               1,945   2,057
        Consolidation
        elimination
        of internal   (8,381)(4,376)           (20,277) (17,431)
        sales (2)
        Consolidated
        sales         75,190  55,315  + 35.9%   190,639 174,331   + 9.4%

                             3rd Quarter                9 Months

        Millions of             1998  variation          1998   variation
        Euros           1999  (pro        %       1999  (pro        %
                              forma)                    forma)
        Upstream (1)    1,919  1,325   + 44.8%   5,404   4,990   + 8.3%
        Downstream      8,499  5,876   + 44.6%   20,161 18,124   + 11.2%
        Chemicals       2,180  1,819   + 19.9%   6,291   5,805   + 8.4%
        Holding          141     79               297     314
        Consolidations
        elimination of
        internal sales (1,277) (667)            (3,091) (2,657)
        (2)
        Consolidated
        sales          11,462  8,432   + 35.9%   29,062 26,576   + 9.4%
[Image]
       (1) Upstream sales include external sales primarily of natural gas
       and LPG, and internal sales to the Downstream segment of crude oil
       produced by the company and generally sold through the Trading
       Division.
       (2)The consolidation eliminations represent primarily the sales of
       crude oil by the Upstream segment to the Downstream segment.

       UPSTREAM

       Upstream sales increased by 44.8 percent in the third quarter 1999
       versus the same period in 1998. For the nine-month period, Upstream
       sales increased by 8.3 percent in 1999 versus 1998. These
       progressions are primarily due to the following factors:

       . The average Brent crude oil price rose to $ 20.6/b in the third
       quarter 1999 from $ 12.5/b in the third quarter 1998. In the 1999
       first nine months, the average Brent price rose to $ 15.8/b from $
       13.2/b in the 1998 first nine months.
       . Upstream production increased 4.5 percent in the third quarter
       1999 versus the third quarter 1998. In the nine-month 1999 period,
       Upstream production increased to 1,100 mboe/d from 1,070 mboe/d in
       the pro forma 1998 period despite the impact of lower OPEC quotas
       and of certain divestments.
       . The dollar/franc exchange rate increased to 6.26 in the third
       quarter 1999 from 5.91 in the same 1998 period, and rose to 6.10 in
       the nine-month 1999 period from 6.01 in 1998.
       . The combined impacts of these factors was partially offset by the
       lag effect in natural gas prices.

       DOWNSTREAM

       Downstream sales increased by 44.6 percent in the third quarter
       1999 versus the third quarter 1998. Downstream sales rose by 11.2
       percent in the nine-month 1999 period versus the same period in
       1998. These progressions are primarily due to higher oil and
       refined product prices.

       European refining margins decreased in the first nine months of
       1999 to $ 9.2/tonne from $ 16.4/tonne in the same period last year.

       CHEMICALS

       Chemical sales increased by 19.9% in the third quarter 1999 versus
       the third quarter 1998. Chemical sales rose by 8.4 percent in the
       nine-month 1999 period versus the same period in 1998. Essentially,
       both organic and external growth of activities more than offset
       declines in petrochemical product prices.