Total SA NEWS

Total and Reliance Industries might not bid for acquiring India's BPCL. Further, BP wants to explore the offerings before making a decision to decide for bidding. The Indian government has decided to sell 53.29% stakes of oil refining and marketing company BPCL. The firm accounts for 15% of the total installed refining capacity of the nation. Saudi Aramco might alone bid for the stakes or may have another partner, ADNOC.

German clean-tech company Sunfire and Total have joined hands for a pilot project in Germany. The companies will try to produce methanol from renewables and carbon dioxide at the Leuna refinery. A plant is being constructed at the refinery which will be completed next year and production is expected to start in 2021. The plant will produce 500 tonnes of green methanol in the first three years.

British E&P major, Tullow Oil has made another discovery on the Orinduik license, offshore Guyana. This marks the second in the line of discoveries for Tullow Oil in its Jethro-1 exploration well, the first discovery made back in August 2019. The exploration well was drilled to a final depth of 2,175m using Stena Forthdrillship. The Orinduik Block is operated by Tullow, where Total and Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas are partners.

Total, Novatek and other shareholders of the project have given an agreement on the final investment decision for Arctic LNG 2. This project is a major LNG development on the Gydan peninsula, Russia. The production capacity of the project is expected to be 19.8 MM tons per year. Total has 10% interest in Arctic LNG 2, Novatek 60%, CNOOC 10%, CNPC 10% and a Mitsui-Jogmec consortium, Japan Arctic LNG 10%.

Total has inked deals with Qatar Petroleum to transfer part of its assets in Kenya, Guyana and Namibia. Qatar Petroleum will gain 30% and 28.33% in Block 2913B and Block 2912 respectively. Total will also let go of 40% of the company holding its existing 25% stakes in the Orinduik and Kanuku blocks. In Kenya, Total and Eni will farm out a combined 25% interest in different to Qatar Petroleum.

French supermajor, Total has reported a drop in the profits for the second quarter. Total’s adjusted net income in Q2 2019 was $2.9bn, down 26% from the same quarter in 2018. Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné said, “Markets remained volatile with Brent averaging $69 per barrel in the second quarter, an increase of 9% compared to the previous quarter, but natural gas prices were down 36% in Europe and 26% in Asia.”

French energy giant, Total has revealed plans of farming out North Sea assets worth £4billion in the current financial year. The asset farm-out news comes tailing a £510m-sale of a UK North Sea mature field package to Petrogas in July. The supermajor said that the divestment strategy is in line with Total’s goals of growing in the LNG market, and will stress on the sales in the exploration and production.

Gas Supply Agreement and the Host Government Agreement have been signed by Total, the Republic of Benin and the Société Béninoise d’Energie Electrique (SBEE). Under the agreement, LNG import floating terminal will be developed and Total will supply up to 0.5 Mtpa of regasified LNG to Benin for 15 years, starting in 2021. Benin's Energy minister has congratulated Total for its willingness to support the revitalization of its energy sector.

McDermott International has secured a FEED contract from Total Oman E&P Development in partnership with Oman Oil Company S.O.A.C. This contract is for the Sohar LNG bunkering project in Oman and the work will start immediately. Senior VP of McDermott said, "This award is a reflection of McDermott's 60-year history of delivering innovative LNG solutions worldwide, beginning with our tank storage solutions in the 1950s, to our liquefaction capabilities today".

The energy majors, Exxon and Total have been awarded licenses by Greece to search for hydrocarbons off the island of Crete. The companies will work as a consortium with Hellenic Petroleum and will have an eight-year research and exploitation licence in two offshore blocks. Greek Prime Minister said, "Today's agreement marks the utilisation by Greece of its own exclusive economic zone, following in the footsteps of other countries".

4D seismic survey for Tyra, Tyra SE and Roar fields of Total has been awarded to Shearwater GeoServices. This survey will be performed by Shearwater’s SW Amundsen vessel. The company has 20 years of experience in 4D source and streamer position, fleet and towing equipment, and sensor technologies. “We are pleased to see Total’s selection of the Isometrix multi-sensor acquisition system for their North Sea 4D season", said Shearwater's CEO.

The new supercomputer of Total is said to enhance efficiency, enable its geologists to find oil faster, cheaper and with a better success rate. Total informed, "The Pangea III computer build by IBM will help process complex seismic data in the search for hydrocarbons 10 times faster that before". This computer has secured top rank among supercomputers in the oil and gas sector, according to TOP500 table.

DeltaTek has successfully completed its first SeaCure deployment for Total E&P UK. This cementing service took place in Total's Ballindalloch oil field. Chief Commercial and Operations Officer of DeltaTek said, “We are absolutely delighted with the results of the Total deployment. This project was a major success and again illustrated how SeaCure can optimize drilling operations.”

Total might acquire a 30% stake in India's city gas distribution (CGD) company Adani Gas. The deal would be will be worth over $800 million. According to Adani's spokesperson, “As a part of the company’s business growth strategy, we continue to evaluate various viable options”. It is after a strategic partnership in October aimed at developing various regasification LNG terminals, that both the companies have decided on this deal.

Total's Culzean field in the North Sea has started production. The firm is proud to deliver ahead of schedule and under budget. Total holds 49.99% stake in Culzean and the rest is held by BP (32%) and JX Nippon (18%). E&P President of Total said, "The Culzean project is delivered ahead of schedule and more than 10% below the initial budget, which represents capex savings of more than $500 million".

Toshiba Corp. will sell its over 20-year liquefaction rights at the Freeport LNG project to Total. The company will pay $815 million to the French major and is expecting that the deal will be finalized by March 2020. This acquisition is in line with Total's plan to become one of the world’s biggest LNG players in the future. Total presently is the second-largest private global LNG player.

Total has reached an agreement with Jersey Oil & Gas (JOG) to settle the termination of asset farm-in deal of 2013. JOG will get approximately $949,500 as a full and final settlement from Total’s UK subsidiary. Total had agreed to buy equity in License P.2032 from JOG in 2013. However, Total didn’t exercise the ‘drill or drop’ in a six-month period and disputed the compensation to be made to JOG.

Oilfield services giant, Petrofac has informed about receiving contract extension from Total. Petrofac will continue to provide Operations and Maintenance (O&M) support to Total’s Alwyn and Dunbar platforms for the next 12 months. Apart from the renewal deal with Total, Petrofac also secured a 12-month extension contract with an unidentified firm operating in the CNS. Both the deals will fetch Petrofac a total of £25 million in revenue.