Total, a successful long-term strategy

Résumé du document

Total is today the fourth largest oil and gas company in the world. This Paris-based firm is the largest European company (based on market capitalization in 2006), it has over 95 000 employees in more than 130 countries and a net income of € 12.5 billion in 2006. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and production to power generation, transportation, refining, petroleum product marketing as well as international crude oil and product trading. Total is also a large-scale chemicals manufacturer. The group has a production of more than 2.1 million barrels of oil per day, in 30 different countries. In a context of global concern about natural resources, the Group's assertive commitment to sustainable development – highlighted by its slogan “Our energy is your energy “ - reflects the needs of both existing and future generations of consumers.

Extraits

[...] It was vital for an oil and gas company based in a country which has almost no oil reserves. Total has historically been well implanted in former French colonies (Gabon, Cameroun, Algeria and in the Middle East (Iran, Iraq, Emirates). It has continuously expanded its presence in South and North America (Venezuela, Argentina, Canada, and United States), South- East Asia (Burma, Indonesia), Europe and Russia. The group has largely taken advantage of the French political networks especially in Africa and the government support. [...]

[...] For instance, Total has been a pioneer in deepwater drilling in Argentina. More recently, Total launched a huge advertisement campaign to highlight its commitment to sustainable development and corporate social responsibility. This communication strategy was undoubtedly designed to counterbalance several infamous controversies that involved the Group. In the 1990s before the 2000 merger - Total and Elf Aquitaine won contracts with Saddam Hussein's regime to develop the $ 3.4 Billion Majnoon and Nahr Umar oil fields in southern Iraq; Total's Executives were later accused of bribery on Iraq's officials. [...]

[...] Total has expanded its activities throughout its history. It diversified into refinery activities in 1929 and petrochemicals in 1954. On July the TOTAL brand was launched, spearheading CFP's expansion into new distribution markets in Europe outside France, English-speaking Africa and Australia. The French Petroleum Company of Canada - renamed Total Petroleum (North America) in 1970 - was also created the same year. The Group's first distribution subsidiary, Compagnie Française de Distribution des Pétroles en Afrique, was launched in 1947 - renamed Total Outre-Mer in 1991. [...]

[...] Total E&P Canada is also growing qualitatively. Borell has recently decided to launch an upgrader to process oilsand outputs because “much of the value remains in bitumen after production”. Bitumen produced from oilsands indeed require intermediate processing in the form of “upgrading” to be turned into suitable refinery feedstock. The upgrader will be located near Edmonton; the construction, which will require up to 4000 workers, is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2008 and be completed by 2013. [...]

[...] In 1992, the French state sold more of its Elf Aquitaine interests, reducing its majority stake to The State's interest in Total was also reduced from to This holding was sold off gradually until, by May 1998, the State no longer has an interest in Total. As for Elf Aquitaine, it was fully privatized in 1994. After Total's takeover of Belgian Petrofina in 1999, it became known as Total Fina. On, September the Boards of Directors of Totalfina and Elf Aquitaine proposed a friendly merger of the two companies to shareholders. This merger was approved by the European Commission in February 2000 and TotalFinaElf came into being in March 2000. [...]