Re Joint Venture

Total Fina Elf.
25 January 2002


TotalFinaElf and Russia's Yukos Partner in Black Sea Deep Offshore Venture

Paris- January 25, 2002 - TotalFinaElf announced today that it has formed a
50/50 joint venture with Russia's Yukos to explore and develop the Shatsky area
in the Black Sea. The area is located in Russian federal waters, at depths
between 1,500 and 2,500 meters. Implementation of the agreement is subject to
approval by the Russian authorities.

The first phase of work involves interpretation of seismic data already acquired
by Yukos and the launch of an additional 2D seismic survey.

Entry into the Shatsky zone is in line with TotalFinaElf's strategy of
expanding its deep offshore operations, bringing the Group's expertise to a
region where no exploration drilling has ever been conducted.

In Russia, TotalFinaElf currently operates production of 12,000 barrels of oil
per day under a production sharing agreement for the Khariaga field in the Timan
Petchora region. A second development phase at this field will increase
production to 30,000 barrels per day before the end of the year.


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