TOTAL AIMING FOR EXPANSION OF NATURAL GAS OPERATIONS

Total Cie. Francaise des Petroles Pres. Serge Tchuruk sees 1991 as a key year for his company's natural gas operations.

New LNG projects are getting under way or about to start. During the first half of the decade Total plans to boost gas production by about 50%.

Total has become operator for a major gas development in Thailand.

The company is a partner in Qatargas with British Petroleum Co. plc, Marubeni, Mitsui, and Qatar General Petroleum Corp. (QGPC). Qatargas is an LNG export project based on gas from the huge offshore North field.

Qatar will host the next grassroots LNG project, Tchuruk says. Good progress has been made in marketing the gas in the Far East, and Qatargas is expected soon to sign a letter of intent to supply LNG to Chubu, a Japanese utility.

In addition to participating in expansion of Algerian gas liquefaction capacity, Total is involved in plans for a methyl tertiary butyl ether plant and enhanced oil recovery. Total was already participating in exploration and production ventures with Sonatrach.

These contacts are not a prelude to the sale of technology to Algeria, Tchuruk said. He expects considerable progress during 1991 in developing joint ventures that have the potential for a commercial rate of return.

Tchuruk says developments in Thailand and Algeria show that countries seeking assistance of companies with considerable experience in the international gas business are turning to Total. He reckons the company is No. 2 in world gas behind the Royal Dutch/Shell Group.

LNG will be one of the areas in which outsiders will see first evidence of the new Total style. Alain Brion, managing director of the trading and Middle East division, said QGPC will need technical assistance from its partners in the LNG project.

Referring to Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Co., which is preparing for a huge expansion of export capacity, Brion said Total had not played a silent role but BP took a more prominent role in the earlier parts of the project. This will change, he said.

OPERATIONS ELSEWHERE

Not all of Total's gas operations are in the Middle East and Far East. There is a small operation based on North American exploration and production.

And there are major opportunities in Northwest Europe.

In the U.K., Total is beginning work on development of Caister gas field in the southern North Sea. The project will provide gas under contract to a power station to be built on the east coast of England.

The British gas market is leading Europe into a new period of change in which independent companies will eat into the positions of established suppliers. In the U.K. in particular, Tchuruk said, it will be difficult for North Sea operators not to be connected with a marketing organization.

In Norway's arctic waters, Total has been chosen as the sole foreign partner for a proposed LNG project to provide gas to Italy's state owned electrical power company.

PETROCHEMICAL FEED

In Tchuruk's book, gas is not just a fuel. It also has an important role to play as a petrochemical feedstock.

Unlike most companies of its size, Total does not have a significant position in petrochemicals, although it has a profitable specialty chemical operation that is being expanded.

This lack of petrochemical operations leaves Total free to develop gas based petrochemicals in producing areas without the fear of a market conflict with existing manufacturing plants in industrialized countries.

Tchuruk expects a flurry of gas based projects during the next few years. It makes better sense, he says, to convert gas into petrochemicals rather than LNG in many circumstances.

Copyright 1991 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.