By Tara Patel
Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) — Total Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie is willing to travel to Kazakhstan to help resolve a dispute over the Kashagan oil field.
“The priority is to resume talks with the authorities,” he told analysts during a presentation in Paris today. The Kashagan development is worth “several billion dollars” for Total, Europe’s third-biggest oil company, de Margerie said.
Kazakhstan last week ordered the Eni SpA-led group that includes Total to halt work at the world’s biggest oil discovery in 30 years for at least three months while it investigates alleged violations of environmental rules.
Eni, Exxon Mobil Corp., Total and Royal Dutch Shell Plc all hold 18.5 percent of Kashagan, while ConocoPhillips has 9.3 percent. Kazakhstan’s national oil company, KazMunaiGaz National Co., and Japan’s Inpex Corp. each own 8.3 percent. Rome-based Eni is the sole operator of the Kashagan field.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tara Patel in Paris at [email protected]
Last Updated: September 5, 2007 08:07 EDT