Re Contract

Total S.A.
02 March 2006


                     China: Total enters into the Sulige field

Paris, March 2, 2006 - Total and PetroChina have signed a Production Sharing
Contract for the evaluation, development and production of the natural gas
resources of the South Sulige block of Ordos Basin, an area of around 2,390
square kilometres located in the Province of Inner Mongolia, onshore China. The
contract is subject to approval by Chinese authorities.

The evaluation of this field will include the acquisition of new seismic data,
reentry of existing wells and the drilling and testing of new wells.

'Total is pleased to be part of the Sulige development. This project is a major
step towards unlocking potentially very large unconventional natural gas
resources. It demonstrates the strong commitment of both PetroChina and Total
to jointly cooperate in that field', states Christophe de Margerie, President
Exploration and Production of Total.

Total will bring to the partnership its technological expertise and working
practices applied to the specific working conditions of the Ordos geological
basin. Together with PetroChina, the Group will promote the replacement of
traditional energy resources by cleaner fuels in the urban eastern regions.

Total and PetroChina have been partners for more than 10 years in one of the
most important Chinese refineries, WEPEC. Located in Dalian, in the northeast of
the country, WEPEC is operated by PetroChina and is currently being modernized
and upgraded to a capacity of 10 million tons a year.

Total and PetroChina are also actively cooperating internationally to join their
efforts and competencies in exploring and developing new resources in several
domains, particularly heavy oils. Sulige project is an attractive and sizable
opportunity which will allow in the two companies to strengthen their
cooperation.

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Total is the fourth largest oil and gas company in the world with operations in
more than 130 countries. Total's activities cover the whole energy chain of the
petroleum industry: exploration, oil and gas production, refining and marketing,
trading and power generation. The Group is also a major player in chemicals.
Total has more than 111,000 employees worldwide. More information can be found
on the company's website: www.total.com



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