Category: France

PARIS—French oil company Total SA TOT -0.19 % said Thursday that it has agreed to sell a gas pipeline and gas terminal in the North Sea to North Sea Midstream Partners for 585 million pounds ($905 million) as it battles against the oil price collapse. Total will sell the 362-kilometer Frigg U.K. Pipeline and the St. Fergus Gas Terminal. The company recently embarked on a restructuring plan to bring its extraction costs below market price, which includes cutting investment, selling assets and boosting production. It said in February that it plans to shed $5.5 billion worth of less-profitable assets this year in an attempt to raise overall profitability to offset the negative effects that low oil prices are having on its balance sheet. The company had long struggled with overcapacity in European refining. European demand for petroleum products has dropped 15% since 2008, the company said earlier this year, […]

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French energy company EDF secures shipments of LNG drawn from U.S. basins. File Photo by UPI/Stephen Shaver HOUSTON, Aug. 12 (UPI) — French energy company EDF secured a deal for liquefied natural gas drawn from reserves in the United States, Cheniere Energy announced. Cheniere and EDF signed a sales agreement for up to 26 cargoes of LNG from its Sabine Pass export terminal through 2019. "Volumes will be sourced from Cheniere Marketing’s LNG supply portfolio, which includes rights under a sale and purchase agreement with Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC to purchase any LNG produced from Sabine Pass in excess of that required for other customers," Cheniere said in a statement. Cheniere has designated several dozen cargoes for sale to date, with delivery expected to begin next year. A special permit is needed to send natural gas to companies without a U.S. free trade agreement. Though France has no such […]

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General view of the Total’s oil refinery at La Mede near Marseille, southern France, April 16, 2015. French oil major Total S.A. ( TOTF.PA ) is selling a 50 percent stake in its sole U.S. refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, and has retained investment bank Lazard to advise on the deal, according to a source familiar with the matter. The French oil major, which has been trying to reduce its downstream exposure for three years, intends to remain operator of the 225,000 barrel-per-day plant, which it has owned for more than 40 years, the source said. The move reflects Total’s efforts to shift more capital toward production, two people familiar with refining transactions added. Lazard and Total both declined to comment. The sale would be the latest step by a big oil company to move away from the downstream sector, which has long been considered a low-margin drag on […]

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A labor union that orchestrated a complete shutdown of France’s refineries in 2010 failed to gain support for a nationwide strike at oil plants this week in a sign its influence is waning. The Confederation Generale du Travail had called for a walkout at refineries, oil depots and import terminals to protest against a plan by Total SA to halt crude processing at La Mede plant in southern France. There was no labor action Thursday at refineries other than La Mede, where a three-week strike has idled operations, Total said. “The CGT is losing ground in its traditional bastions of power like energy and chemicals,” Bernard Vivier, director of Paris-based researcher the Higher Institute of Labor , said in an interview. “France’s social climate isn’t one of revolt these days but rather of resignation.” The CGT, one of half a dozen unions representing oil workers in France, is protesting […]

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A labor union that orchestrated a complete shutdown of France’s refineries in 2010 failed to gain support for a nationwide strike at oil plants this week in a sign its influence is waning. The Confederation Generale du Travail had called for a walkout at refineries, oil depots and import terminals to protest against a plan by Total SA to halt crude processing at La Mede plant in southern France. There was no labor action Thursday at refineries other than La Mede, where a three-week strike has idled operations, Total said. “The CGT is losing ground in its traditional bastions of power like energy and chemicals,” Bernard Vivier, director of Paris-based researcher the Higher Institute of Labor , said in an interview. “France’s social climate isn’t one of revolt these days but rather of resignation.” The CGT, one of half a dozen unions representing oil workers in France, is protesting […]

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A labor union representing Total SA workers has called for a France-wide strike July 2 at refineries, oil depots and crude import terminals to protest a plan to stop processing the fuel at the La Mede plant in southern France. The La Mede refinery near Marseille has been idled since June 11 due to a strike by about 15 workers led by the CGT union, which called for the additional disruptions Thursday, according to a spokesman for Total. Talks with all unions on the plan for the site continue, he said. In calling for a wider strike, the CGT wants to protest the planned “death” of crude refining at La Mede, it said in a statement Monday. The union also called for blockades of Total service stations around the country every Thursday during the summer months. Total plans to convert the unprofitable plant to produce biofuels as well as […]

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ENLARGE French energy company Total SA said on Thursday it plans to pump more than $600 million into two struggling refineries and cut 180 jobs. Photo: Reuters PARIS—French energy company Total SA said on Thursday it plans to pump more than $600 million into two struggling refineries and cut 180 jobs, in a sign of the coming pressures on European refiners. Total said it will invest about $428 million to upgrade its Donges refinery in western France and pour $214 million into transforming the La Mède refinery near Marseille into a biofuel plant. At La Mède, the company will cut staff to 250 from 430 through early retirements and transfers. The changes come at a moment of transition for European refiners who have experienced good times for the past several months after years of losses. Spain’s Repsol SA, Portugal’s Galp Energia and Italy’s Eni SpA have all reported strong […]

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On Wednesday last week Paris was covered in a thick haze obscuring the Eiffel Tower The French authorities have introduced measures to combat a sharp increase in pollution affecting Paris and other cities in northern France. On Monday the number of cars on the road in Paris will be cut in half – only motorists with odd-numbered plates will be allowed to drive. Public transportation will be free as well car-sharing and bike-sharing programmes. Similar measures were put in place last year when pollution soared in Paris. The city saw a severe spike in smog on Wednesday last week and briefly had the world’s dirtiest air, AP news agency reported quoting Plume Labs, a monitoring company. The mayor’s office announced at the weekend that alternating number plate measures would be implemented on Monday, with exceptions for electric or hybrid vehicles as well as emergency vehicles. About 750 police officers […]

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(Bloomberg) — French refiners may close more than one plant as fuel demand weakens, following losses of as much as 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion) over the past six years, an industry lobby group said. Should Total SA, which operates five of France’s eight refineries, halt production at one of its sites, more closures would probably follow, Francis Duseux, president of the Union Francaise des Industries Petrolieres, which represents oil companies in the country, told reporters on Tuesday in Paris. “Unfortunately I don’t think it will be finished,” said Duseux, the former head Exxon Mobil Corp.’s French unit. “It will not stop at one refinery except if the state intervenes.” French refineries lost hundreds of millions of euros last year as the 22 euros a metric ton average margin for processing crude was below the break-even level, UFIP said. While Total has yet to unveil details of a refinery […]

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