Acquisitions

Total Fina Elf.
26 April 2000


TOTALFINAELF STRENGTHENS ITS EXPLORATION ASSETS
IN THE AMERICAS

Pari, April 26, 2000 - TotalFinaElf announced today that it has strengthened its
exploration assets in the Americas through the acquisition of new acreages in
the US and in Colombia.  The acquisitions are part of the Group's ongoing
strategy of ensuring sustained growth in its exploration and production
business.  

In the US. TotalFinaElf, through its subsidiary Total Exploration & Production
USA Inc., has signed an agreement with BHP Petroleum Americas Inc., a subsidiary
of Broken Hill Proprietary Ltd. (BHP) of Australia, to acquire interests in
three groups of blocks covering the Chinook, Klondike and Cascade deepwater
prospects in the Gulf of Mexico.

The three groups of blocks are located in the Walker Ridge area, about 330
kilometers offshore Louisiana in water depths ranging between 2,000 and 2,900
meters.  They comprise a total of 21 blocks extending through the Mississippi
Fan Foldbelt at a distance of around 60 kilometers southwest of an area where
several recent discoveries have been made, including Mad Dog, Atlantis and
Neptune.

Under the terms of the agreement, TotalFinaElf is acquiring a 30% interest from
BHP in Chinook (5 blocks) and Klondike (6 blocks), with an option to acquire a
30% interest in Cascade (10 blocks).  BHP remains the operator on all the blocks
with a 70% interest.  A first exploration well is scheduled to be drilled on the
Walker Ridge 425 block (Chinook) before March 2001.

In Colombia, TotalFinaElf has signed an agreement to acquire a 100% interest in
the Guadalupe exploration permit from Ecopetrol, the Colombian national oil
company.

Located in the Upper Magdalena valley, the Guadalupe permit covers an area of
approximately 1,4000 square kilometers and adjoins the Gaitanas permit, in which
TotalFinaElf, the operator, holds a 65% interest.  A 2D seismic survey was
recently completed on Gaitanas and data is in the process of being interpreted. 
Exploration on Guadalupe will initially include geological and mapping surveys,
and a 2D seismic survey.  The permit's potential will be assessed following the
drilling of an exploration well.

This new interest strengthens TotalFinaElf's upstream acreage in Colombia, where
the Group is already present with a 19% interest in the Cusiana Cuplagua oil
fields currently in production.  TotalFinaElf also owns interests in local
transport networks, including a 15.2% stake in the Ocensa pipeline linking the
Cusiana field and Covenas on the Caribbean coast and a 9.53% stake in the
Oleoducto de Colombia (ODC) pipline linking the Middle Magdalena valley to
Covenas.

Media contacts:
Thomas Saunders   (33 1) 47 44 42 30
Catherine Enck    (33 1) 47 44 72 51

TOTAL FINA ELF S.A. - Capital social 7 222 036 790 euros- 2 place de La
Coupole-92400 Courbevoie 542 051 180 RCS Nanterre-