The Associated Press
Published: August 2, 2007
PARIS: Oil company Total SA said Thurdsay that second-quarter net profit was little changed as improved refinery margins failed to offset the weaker dollar.
Net income declined 1 percent to €3.41 billion (US$4.66 billion) from €3.44 billion (US$4.7 billion) in the same period a year ago, said Total, the world’s fourth-largest publicly traded oil company.
“Oil prices rebounded to high levels approaching those that we saw in 2006,” Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie said in a statement accompanying the quarterly results.
“However, natural gas prices fell to lower levels in some markets. Refining margins in Europe were stronger.”
Total said its expects returns from the development of new fields, exploration efforts and negotiations with large national oil companies which “strengthens the outlook for profitable growth for the coming years and for the very long term.”
In the second quarter, Gazprom announced a decision to partner with Total at the Arctic offshore field Shtokman, which could become a future source of liquefied natural gas for North America. The field is estimated to contain as much as 3.7 trillion cubic meters of gas.
Total also said it started new projects in Algeria, Nigeria, Angola and Qatar, and made major discoveries in the Republic of Congo and Angola.
In the second quarter, average production grew 1.4 percent to 2.32 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, the company said.
A ramp up in activity from Total’s 240,000 barrel-a-day Dalia field facility in Angola was partially offset by the shutdown of the Nkossa platform in the Republic of Congo following an accident.
Total’s adjusted net income, which strips out special items and charges related to the Sanofi-Aventis merger, fell 8 percent to €3.10 billion (US$4.24 billion) from €3.36 billion (US$4.59 billion) in the second quarter of 2006.
Revenue fell 4 percent to €39.1 billion (US$53.41 billion) from €40.9 billion (US$55.9 billion).
The world’s major oil companies have reported mixed results for the first quarter, with profits flat at Exxon Mobil Corp., down at Royal Dutch Shell PLL, and up at BP PLC.
Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, said last week its second-quarter profit fell 1 percent from a year ago as lower natural gas prices and production declines hurt results.
Weak demand for natural gas in Europe continued to hamper results. But like some of its competitors, Exxon Mobil said it got a big lift from higher global refining and marketing margins.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC, based in The Hague, Netherlands, said net profit rose 18 percent in the second quarter to $8.67 billion. BP PLC, one of Europe’s biggest oil companies, reported a 1.5 percent increase in second quarter profit.
Total shares fell 1.5 percent Friday to close at €57.39 (US$78.66) on Wednesday in Paris.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/02/business/EU-FIN-EARNS-France-Total.php
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
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.
