Stmt re Amenam/Kpono field

Total S.A.
15 July 2003

Nigeria: first production of Amenam/Kpono and start up of a new floating storage
and offloading facility


Paris - July 15, 2003 - Total announces the start of production of the 
Amenam/Kpono field operated by its subsidiary Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited 
(EPNL) that will produce 125,000 barrels of oil per day once it reaches peak 
production.

The field is located 30km offshore in a water depth of 40 meters and straddles 
two concession areas, Oil Mining Lease (OML) 99 operated by EPNL and OML 70 
operated by Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, a subsidiary of Exxonmobil.

EPNL, operator with a 30.4% interest, is partnered with the Nigerian National 
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Mobil Producing Nigeria.

Furthermore, the NNPC/EPNL joint venture (NNPC 60%, EPNL 40% operator) has put 
into place a new floating storage and offloading (FSO) facility, replacing the 
FSO Domy, that collects production from Amenam/Kpono as well as from Odudu and 
Ofon located respectively in OML 100 and 102. The new FSO Unity has a storage 
capacity of more than 2.4 million barrels of oil.

The combined investment for these two projects is $1.4 billion.

'We are proud to bring this important project on-stream on-time and within 
budget. Amenam/Kpono fits within the Group's strategy of increasing production 
by an average of 5% annually over the next 5 years', declares Christophe 
de Margerie Total's President Exploration and Production.

'It was extremely important for us to contribute to local communities,' 
continues Mr. de Margerie. 'We worked closely with international 
non-governmental organisations to put into place sustainable development 
programmes that would provide long-standing and tangible benefits for the people
of Nigeria.'

In line with Total's environmental policies, there will be no gas flaring. 
Associated gas will be re-injected and in a second phase part of this associated
gas will be transferred to the Nigerian liquefied natural gas (LNG) Bonny plant 
for export.

Total is the fourth largest oil and gas company in the world with operations in 
more than 120 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 
through its chemicals branch, Atofina. Total has 121,000 employees worldwide. 
More information can be found on the company's website: www.total.com



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