Doris Leblond
OGJ Correspondent
PARIS, Sept. 11 -- Total AS Chairman and Chief Executive Thierry Desmarest told financial analysts last week that the group could sustain a 4%/year production growth rate during 2005-10 despite the 12% drop registered over the last 18 months and a 5% shortfall expected during the second half of this year.
Unrest in Nigeria, maintenance turnarounds in the North Sea and Angola, and field confiscations in Venezuela and Bolivia caused unscheduled oil and gas production shutdowns resulting in a production decline to 2.3 million boe/d in second quarter 2006.
Total will increase initial investment this year to $14.5 billion from $13.5 billion, half of which would bolster oil exploration based on $40/bbl. Future investments will increase to $15-16 billion/year, said Desmarest. About 110 wells are scheduled instead of the 80 initially planned.
Production in 2007 is expected to increase by 7% to 2.5 million boe/d and exceed 2.8 million boe/d in 2008, said Desmarest. This growth will be underpinned by major projects, new developments from exploration successes, and by limiting the base decline of mature fields to 3-4%/year on average through 2010.
Total will participate in sustained development of large fields such as Angola's Block 32 off Nigeria, Norway's Haltenbanken, and Tahiti in the Gulf of Mexico, with long-lived production plateaus expected after 2010. Projects also include the buildup from long-lived oil projects in Azerbaijan and Canada's heavy oil projects.
Major gas projects hold promise of sustained production and LNG sales from Dolphin field off Qatar, Ichtys LNG in Australia, Pars LNG off Iran, Brass LNG in Nigeria, and Angola LNG, among others.
