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Total to divest $10 billion in assets during 2015-17

Total SA plans to divest $10 billion in assets during 2015-17 in an effort to improve cash flow and enforce stricter financial discipline. The announcement follows the realization of the company’s goal to divest $15-20 billion in assets during 2012-14, including the recent sale of 10% interest in Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field and the South Caucasus pipeline to Turkish Petroleum Corp. for $1.5 billion ( OGJ Online, May 30, 2014 ). Last week, Total received an offer from French specialty chemical company Arkema to acquire global adhesives affiliate Bostik for $2.25 billion. Organic investment within the company is expected to decrease to $26 billion this year from $28 billion in 2013. By 2017, it hopes to reduce investment to $25 billion. Total is targeting $15 billion in free cash flow for 2017, which it believes will be aided by the launch of 15 major projects expected to boost production […]

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Paris imposes partial motoring ban in battle to control pollution

France has enforced a partial motoring ban in Paris and surrounding areas from Monday morning as it battles to control dangerously high pollution levels. The move, the first of its kind since 1997, comes as a spell of unusually warm and windless weather has exacerbated the level of pollution in the French capital – now at its highest in 16 years, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA). More than 30 departments in France have been hit by maximum-level pollution alerts since Thursday. The ban from Monday will be enforced on private vehicles with petrol or diesel engines whose number plates end in an even number. It will then apply to vehicles with number plates ending in an odd number on Tuesday. Cars carrying three passengers or more will be exempt, as will taxis, buses, emergency vehicles and refrigerated lorries. All other lorries will be banned. “Our primary goal […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Paris takes drastic measures to fight toxic smog

PARIS (AP) — Paris is taking drastic measures to combat its worst air pollution in years, banning around half of the city’s cars and trucks from its streets in an attempt to reduce the toxic smog that’s shrouded the City of Light for more than a week. Cars with even-numbered license plates are prohibited from driving in Paris and its suburbs Monday, following a government decision over the weekend. Around 700 police were patrolling the morning rush hour handing out tickets to offenders. Taxis and commercial vehicles aren’t covered by the ban. It was the first time since 1997 that the emergency measure was taken. If the pollution persists, odd-numbered vehicles will be banned on Tuesday. Public transport has been made free for a fourth day to help deal with the pollution.

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No fare, pollution: French public transport free

Air pollution that has turned Paris skies a murky yellow is giving a break to millions of French travelers – all public transportation in the Paris region and two other cities is free for the next three days. Nearly three-quarters of France is under alert in what the European Environment Agency says is the worst air pollution since 2007. Subways, buses and trains are free Friday through Sunday in the entire Paris region, as well as the cities of Caen and Rouen. Bike-shares are also free, as are one-hour sessions for electric car shares. Meteorologists say unusually warm days followed by cool nights have worsened the situation. An environmental group brought a complaint earlier this week denouncing the "inertia of the government" that it says has put lives in danger.

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Greenpeace Pours Coal Outside French Presidential Palace

Activists from environment group Greenpeace Wednesday poured five tons of coal in front of the gates of Elysee Palace in a protest against Franco-German energy policy ahead of a meeting between French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Greenpeace parked a truck in the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore and started to pour the coal on the street outside the French president palace a little before 0600 GMT. The police quickly intervened and ordered the 10 activists to leave while cleaning staff evacuated the coal and the truck from the street, said Sebastien Blavier, who is in charge of nuclear matters at Greenpeace France. The truck also contained two barrels with 2,000 liters of water that Mr. Blavier said was pumped from a groundwater deposit near a nuclear plant northern France and is mildly radioactive. Greenpeace didn’t pour the water in the street. Officials at […]

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Total fails to grow output in 2013, sees 2014 decline

France’s Total failed to increase its oil and gas production in 2013 — despite a plan to return to growth for the year — and does not expect output in 2014 to exceed last year’s level due to the loss of a big chunk of production from Abu Dhabi. Total’s output slipped in the fourth quarter to 2.284 million barrels of oil equivalent/day due to the impact of field shut-ins in Libya and disruption to operations in Nigeria. For 2013 as a whole, output averaged 2.299 million boe/d, down from exactly 2.3 million boe/d in 2012, despite Total forecasting production growth for the year in February 2013. Total was impacted particularly in the fourth quarter by the shut-in of fields in eastern Libya due to the blockade of oil export terminals by protesters and rebels. Article continues below… Platts 7th Annual Global Crude Oil […]

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Total's Profit Dented by High Costs, Falling Refining Margins

Total SA was hit by the same mix of declining refining margins and high exploration costs that have slammed its European peers in the fourth quarter, causing its earnings to slide. The French oil major said on Wednesday that fourth-quarter net profit totaled €1.61 billion ($2.18 billion), down 31% from €2.34 billion a year earlier. When adjusted for changes in inventories, the figure dropped 19% to €2.47 billion from €3.04 billion, below the expectations of nine analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal. Total’s oil and gas output has been dented by geopolitical disruptions and technological hurdles. Weak refining conditions in Europe—where margins have dropped due to lower consumption and mounting competition from cheaper refiners in the U.S. and Middle-East—are also biting into operating income. During the quarter, the company’s hydrocarbon output fell to 2.28 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, from 2.29 million barrels a day […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Total’s Profit Dented by High Costs, Falling Refining Margins

Total SA was hit by the same mix of declining refining margins and high exploration costs that have slammed its European peers in the fourth quarter, causing its earnings to slide. The French oil major said on Wednesday that fourth-quarter net profit totaled €1.61 billion ($2.18 billion), down 31% from €2.34 billion a year earlier. When adjusted for changes in inventories, the figure dropped 19% to €2.47 billion from €3.04 billion, below the expectations of nine analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal. Total’s oil and gas output has been dented by geopolitical disruptions and technological hurdles. Weak refining conditions in Europe—where margins have dropped due to lower consumption and mounting competition from cheaper refiners in the U.S. and Middle-East—are also biting into operating income. During the quarter, the company’s hydrocarbon output fell to 2.28 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, from 2.29 million barrels a day […]

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Total Plans More Drilling After Oil Exploration Failures

Total SA (FP) began life as Cie Francaise des Petroles, or CFP, almost a century ago. Thirty years since changing its name, the French oil giant is fighting to prevent its “Can’t Find Petroleum” moniker from coming back. Three years and $7.3 billion into an exploration drive, Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie still finds large discoveries elusive. Better drilling results — at least 12 “high-impact” wells are planned this year — are critical to bolster output and profit. Total will say tomorrow adjusted net income fell 11 percent last year to 11.1 billion euros ($15.1 billion), according to the average estimate of 22 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. “Total has been quite disappointed with its exploration,” said Theepan Jothilingam, an oil industry analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc. “There will be a reassessment of returns on capital that has been spent on the effort. Questions will be raised in 12 […]

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French minister supports allowing ‘clean’ shale gas fracking

A split over France’s ban on shale gas development has emerged within the government, with one minister supporting an experimental type of "clean fracking." French Minister for Industrial Renewal Arnaud Montebourg, a member of President Francois Hollande ‘s Socialist Party, is calling on the president to reconsider his opposition to hydraulic fracturing due to what he calls the emergence of environmentally safer methods to extract natural gas trapped in shale rock. Despite Hollande’s public reiteration in July of opposition, on environmental grounds, to any exploitation of shale gas during his tenure, Montebourg has renewed his efforts to push for a change in policy — touting a potential of a type of fracking that uses fluoropropane, rather than a mix of water and chemical additives, to break apart underground rock formations. Other ministers, including Housing Minister Cecile Duflot of the Green Party, or EELV, and […]

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