(Total’s new chief Christophe de Margerie)
By Paul Willis
Record profits from oil company Total have renewed calls from the French presidential candidate Ségolène Royal for a special windfall tax on “excess” oil profits.
The oil giant today unveiled record 2006 figures, with adjusted net profit rising 5pc to €12.59bn (£8.2bn) and the company increasing its full-year dividend 15pc to €1.87 per share.
The rises came despite a dip in production, higher costs and exploration spending, and weaker oil prices in the final quarter. Total said adjusted net income fell 10 percent to €2.74bn in the final quarter of 2006 after €3.05bn in the same period of 2005. Annual sales were €153.8bn.
The record profits – which translate to around £250 per second – came as the world’s fourth largest oil company was put under pressure to defend its earnings.
France’s Socialist party, under Ms Royal, is calling for a tax on “excess” oil profits, as part of its campaign for elections scheduled to begin in April. The outgoing Total chief executive Thierry Desmarest was forced to defended the company’s earnings at a joint presentation.
advertisement”Yes we make €12bn, but I’d like to remind you that we pay our taxes and that we only generate 5pc of our profits on French soil,” said M. Desmarest, who is being succeeded by Christophe de Margerie.
Last year, conservative Finance Minister Thierry Breton ruled against the idea of levying a windfall tax on Total.
“The figure announced by Total today reinforces the need for this measure. Furthermore, there need to be talks with Total so that it invests part of its profit in renewable energy, which is the energy source of the future,” said Bruno Rebelle, Ms Royal’s adviser on environmental affairs.
Total’s result compares with an 11pc rise in fourth-quarter net profit at Royal Dutch Shell, a 12pc drop at BP, and a 4.3pc fall at ExxonMobil. The French oil giant said it would invest around £8bn in 2007 – 75pc of which would be dedicated to exploration and production.
Last year, its production fell 2.5pc on the year to 2.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day amid disruptions in Nigeria and lower volumes from production-sharing agreements.
M. de Margerie – nicknamed “Big Moustache” for his prominent whiskers – is seen as a skilful diplomat on the global oil stage but someone with a smaller political powerbase at home. After comparisions between him and his predecessor M. Desmarest, who was seen as more reserved, he quipped: “Having a nice moustache doesn’t make you more intelligent or open.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/02/14/bcntotal14.xml
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Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
