Total, Zhejiang Energy Establish Bunkering JV
French oil and gas company Total has signed a deal with Chinese state-owned Zhejiang Energy Group (ZEG) to create a joint venture company to supply and delivery marine fuels in the Chinese region of Zhoushan.Total China Investment (TCI) will hold a 49% share in the new company while Zhejiang Zheneng Petroleum New Energy (ZZPNE) will hold the remaining.Zhoushan region covers both Ningbo and Shanghai ports, the busiest shipping hub in the world in terms of cargo tonnage.By combining…
Total, IFPEN Join Forces to Cut Carbon
The French Institute of Petroleum IFP Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN) and compatriot multinational integrated oil and gas company Total announced that they signed a strategic R&D partnership yesterday, that includes an agreement to endow a chair at the IFP School, on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) and technologies to curb CO2 emissions.According to a press note from the energy giant, the roughly EUR40 million partnership covers a period of five years.CCUS aims to reduce the cost of infrastructure and improve the CCUS chain’s energy efficiency to secure its large-scale deployment.
Prospective Bidders for Eneco Narrows
The field of prospective bidders for Dutch energy company Eneco has narrowed as initial interest from big electricity players including France's Engie and Austria's Verbund has fizzled out, sources close to the matter said.The 53 municipalities that currently own Eneco, estimated by analysts to be worth about 3 billion euros ($3.35 billion), said in December they would sell the company through an auction later this year.The process is now expected to kick off in May, when confidential information packages will be circulated to interested parties to undertake due diligence checks on the business…
MOL, Total Make Refueling Europe Easier
Japanese logistics giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and French multinational integrated oil and gas company Total S.A. signed an agreement which will make travelling across Europe easier for their corporate customers.The agreement provides for acceptance of MOL Group Cards by Total in its network of stations in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Germany. At the same time, the Total fuel cards will be accepted in the MOL’s and Slovnaft’s network of stations in Hungary…
Total Strengthens GoM Presence with Samson Deal
French oil and gas company Total has agreed to buy Samson Offshore Anchor LLC, in a deal which Total said would strengthen its presence in the Gulf of Mexico region. Samson Offshore Anchor LLC holds a 12.5 percent interest in four blocks covering the Anchor discovery, one of the most significant recent discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), USA. Total said the deal also includes a 12.5 percent interest in the nearby exploration block Green Canyon 761, where Total already has a 25 percent interest.
Total Won't Accept Fort Hills Cost Increases
French oil and gas company Total said on Thursday that it was not ready to accept substantial cost increases in the Fort Hills oils sands project in Canada, which has led to a commercial dispute with Suncor. Total's Chief Financial Officer Patrick de la Chevardiere told analysts in a call following the company's second quarter earnings that it was in discussion with Suncor to reduce costs. Suncor said separately that it was in the early stages of a commercial dispute with Fort Hills project partner Total over project funding. Reporting by Bate Felix
Total: Congo Crude Exports Unaffected by Port Strike
French oil and gas company Total said on Monday that crude exports from its Djeno terminal in Congo Republic was ongoing and unaffected following a strike last week and the sinking of a loading buoy in an unrelated accident. Traders said on Friday that the company had declared a force majeure on exports of Djeno crude following the incident. A spokeswoman for Total said: "exports from Djeno remain unaffected and safely continue with the second available loading buoy," adding that the tanker that was loading at the time of the buoy incident was safely disconnected.
CFD Simulation of a Fully Featured Offshore Platform Model
CFD simulations of offshore oil and gas platforms are used to predict the maximum wind loads acting on the structure of the platform topsides (the upper half of the platform, above sea level and outside the splash zone, including the oil production plant, the accommodation block and any drilling equipment). The wind loads are used as waves and current loads to design the mooring of the structure, and can be significant in specific ocean areas. Because platform topside geometries were traditionally considered too complex to mesh in high detail…
Strike Halts Production at Feyzin Refinery
French oil and gas company Total said on Friday it was gradually shutting down production at its 117,000 barrels-per-day Feyzin refinery and petrochemical platform near Lyon in the east of France due to a strike. Some 190 workers at the refinery, which employs around 600, began the strike on Thursday evening after talks with management reached a deadlock over bonuses and other issues, a spokeswoman for the company said. (Reporting by Bate Felix; Editing by Mark Potter)
Total to Approve New US Refinery Development this Month
French oil and gas company Total this month expects to disclose a partner for a new ethane cracker the company expects to soon approve in Port Arthur, Texas, Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said. Pouyanne, speaking at the CERAWeek energy conference on Wednesday, did not name the partner or put a price tag on the development. (Reporting by Ron Bousso)
Total Cuts Scrip Dividend Discount on Improved Outlook
French oil and gas company Total on Friday cut the discount offered for its shares in a scrip dividend scheme for the second quarter to 5 percent from 10 percent citing improved confidence in its outlook and rising oil prices. Oil companies have used the scrip dividend programme to maintain rather than cut dividends due to the prolonged fall in oil prices in a global glut. Prices have rebounded from lows hit earlier this year after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from Jan. 1, its first such deal since 2008.
Exxon, Saudis Differ on Oil Outlook
Exxon Mobil's boss Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabia's energy minister on Wednesday took opposing views on declining investment in the oil sector setting the stage for a possible major supply crunch. More than two years of downturn that saw oil prices halve to around $50 a barrel today after a boom in U.S. shale oil production have led to a sharp decline in investment. But Tillerson, who heads the world's largest listed oil and gas company, said that shale oil producers' resilience in…
Potential Oil Output Deal Prompts Another Worry: A Shortage
While OPEC and other big crude producers work towards a deal to cap production to erode a glut, industry executives are concerned the sharp drop in investment that followed the oil price crash could lead to another crisis - a supply shortage. Over $1 trillion worth of oil projects have been cancelled or delayed, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Monday at the World Energy Congress in Istanbul, after companies slashed budgets due to oil prices more than halving to around $50 a barrel since mid-2014. Oil fields take years to develop.
Total Mulls Sale of Martin Linge Stake
French oil and gas company Total is considering the sale of some of its 51 pct stake in the Martin Linge oil and gas field in Norway where it is the operator, Bloomberg reported. * It said the company was working with financial advisers but that no final decision has been taken and the company may also decide against the sale. * A spokesman for Total declined to comment. * The Martin Linge oilfield off Norway is expected to start production in early 2018. * Total's partners in the field are Statoil and Norwegian state-owned firm Petoro. (Writing by Bate Felix
Total Halts Some Units at Gonfreville Refinery Following Incident
French oil and gas company Total has shut down some units at its 247,000 barrels-per-day Gonfreville refinery in northern France following a technical incident, a spokesman said on Monday. The spokesman said the incident occurred in a steam producing unit whose backup was under maintenance. "The site decided to protectively shutdown some of its units," he said, adding that it was still unclear how much production was affected and when the units would resume. (Reporting by Bate Felix)
Total Analyzing ExxonMobil's Competing InterOil Bid
French oil and gas company Total said on Wednesday it was analysing a competing offer made by rival U.S oil giant ExxonMobil's for explorer InterOil Corp, its partner in a gas field in Papua New Guinea. ExxonMobil this week trumped an offer from Oil Search, which was backed by Total. Oil Search is due to declare on Thursday whether or not it will match ExxonMobil's $2.2 billion bid. "Total is analzsing the competing offer in line with its demonstrated policy for capital discipline on acquisitions and investments," the company said in a statement. Reporting by Bate Felix
Total Explores Partnership for Port Arthur Refinery Logistics Assets
French oil and gas company Total said on Thursday that it was exploring a partnership deal for the logistics part of its 225,000 barrels-per-day Port Arthur refinery in the United States and had been in talks in the last year with potential investors. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Total had decided not to sell a 50 percent stake in the refinery almost a year after it retained investment bank Lazard to advise on the deal. "In the last year we have been in discussions with potential investors to create a JV partnership for the Port Arthur Refinery," a spokesman for the company told Reuters.
Total Says Protests Not Delaying Refineries Restart
French oil and gas company Total said on Tuesday that a nationwide protest by hardline CGT trade union, was not impacting restart operations at three of its five refineries in France which are resuming after being halted by strikes. Total said on Friday that it was restarting its Donges, Normandy and Feyzin refineries after a 27-day strike by CGT against a planned government labour reform bill let to production shut down and the plants. A Total spokesman said full restart operations…
Total to buy Lampiris
French oil and gas company Total plans to buy Belgian green energy provider Lampiris, Belgian daily De Standaard reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources. Total was one of a number of bidders for the Belgian firm, which owners Bruno Venanzi and Bruno Vanderschueren founded in 2003, De Standaard said. Gimv-XL and SRIW both acquired a 16.5 percent stake three years ago after each invested 40 million euros ($45.0 million), according to the newspaper. Both Total and Lampiris declined to comment. Reporting by Wout Vergauwen
Total Guilty over 2009 Petrochemicals Blast
A petrochemical unit of French oil and gas company Total has been found guilty and fined 200,000 euros ($225,100) on Monday by a French court for a 2009 blast at its Carling plant that killed two and injured six. A former manager of the petrochemical plant at the time of the accident was handed a one year suspended prison sentence and fined 20,000 euros. "The disrespect of the procedure by field operators is the direct cause of the explosion but is not the sole and exclusive cause," he court said .
