Royal Dutch Shell Plc  .com Rotating Header Image

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Total’s Profit Jumps 62% as Oil Prices, Output Rise: ‘Shell took the worst hit, with output falling 4.5%’

Wall Street Journal image

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Total’s Profit Jumps 62% as Oil Prices, Output Rise

By ADAM MITCHELL
February 14, 2008; Page A13

PARIS — French oil company Total SA said net profit rose 62% in its most recent quarter, helped by rising production and higher oil prices, and announced a $2.2 billion investment to expand its Texas refinery.
 
Total, one of the world’s largest non-state-owned oil companies by market value, said net profit rose to €3.6 billion ($5.3 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2007 from €2.23 billion a year earlier. Fourth-quarter revenue rose 19% to €43.19 billion.

Total said that despite resurgence in “resource nationalism” — meaning oil-rich countries wanting a bigger share of the oil windfall — it has enough projects under development to increase oil and gas output by an average of 4% a year between 2006 and 2010.

Total’s upstream production rose to 2.46 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in the fourth quarter of 2007, an increase of 2.4% from a year earlier. Hydrocarbon production in 2007 was up 1.5% on 2006 to 2.39 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

The increase in output contrasted sharply with figures released by Total’s oil-industry rivals over the past few weeks. BP PLC, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp all revealed that their production fell in 2007. Shell took the worst hit, with output falling 4.5%.

Total Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie said the company continues to study nuclear projects, including possible investment in uranium mining, but said that it would take several years before the strategy bears fruit.

He said the company wouldn’t pull out of refining and announced a $2.2 billion investment to expand and upgrade the group’s refinery in Port Arthur, Texas. Mr. de Margerie also said Total was in advanced talks with Saudi Arabian Oil Co. to build a 400,000-barrel-a-day refinery in the kingdom.

Total said capital expenditures will increase to $19 billion this year, up from around $16 billion in 2007, as it invests in new projects and as the cost of oil equipment continues to rise.

The company said it sold €316 million worth of Sanofi-Aventis shares in the fourth quarter, or 0.4% of its stake in the French drug maker. Total, which held a 13.1% interest in Sanofi-Aventis as of May 31, 2007, has said it wants to divest the asset progressively.

Write to Adam Mitchell at [email protected]

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comment Rules

  • Please show respect to the opinions of others no matter how seemingly far-fetched.
  • Abusive, foul language, and/or divisive comments may be deleted without notice.
  • Each blog member is allowed limited comments, as displayed above the comment box.
  • Comments must be limited to the number of words displayed above the comment box.
  • Please limit one comment after any comment posted per post.