Drilling Report
Total S.A.
17 October 2006
Confirmation of the Potential of a Fourth Production Zone
With the Orquidea-2 Discovery in Angola's Offshore Block 17
Paris, October 17,2006 - Sociedade Nacional de Combustiveis de Angola (Sanangol)
and Total E&P Angola, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Total, announce that the
Orquidea-2 appraisal well has confirmed and expanded the potential of the
Orquidea discovery in Block 17 offshore Angola.
Located approximately 2 Kilometres from the Orquidea-1 discovery well and
drilled in a water depth of 1,165 metres, Orquidea-2 identified and confirmed
the Miocene objectives encountered by Orquidea-1 and also identified deeper
Oligocene reservoir levels. The Oligocene and Miocene objectives are both oil-
bearing.
The Orquidea structure is located near the Lirio, Cravo and Violeta finds. This
dual drilling success confirms the potential for development of a fourth
production zone in Block 17, for which preliminary design is underway. The
production zone is located in the northwestern area of Block 17 and will
complete the Girassol and Dalia zones, to be followed soon by the Pazflor
production zone,
Sonangol is the Block 17 concessionaire. Total E&P Angola, operator, has a 40%
interest in Block 17, alongside partners Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17)
Limited (20%), BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd. (16.67%), Statoil Angola Block 17 AS
(13,33%) and Norsk Hydro Dezassete a.s. (10%).
Block 17:
Deep-offshore Block 17 is Total's principal producing asset in Angola. It is
composed of three major production zones: Girassol, which is in production,
Dalia, which is under development with production scheduled to begin end 2006,
and Pazflor, where development studies are underway. The possibility of a fourth
major production zone, based on Cravo, Lirio, Violeta and Orquidea discoveries,
is currently being studied.
On the Girassol structure, production from the Girassol field and the Jasmim
field, a satellite to Girassol that came on stream in November 2003, averaged
nearly 250,000 barrels per day of oil over 2005. The Rosa field, developed as a
15 kilometre tie back to the Girassol FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage and
Offloading) facility, was approved in July 2004 and is scheduled to come on
stream in the first half of 2007. It is expected to maintain the production of
the FPSO at its plateau of 250,000 barrels per day over a number of years.
Total is one of the world's major oil and gas groups, with activities in more
than 130 countries. Its 95,000 employees put their expertise to work in every
part of the industry - exploration and production of oil and natural gas,
refining and marketing, gas trading and electricity, Total is working to keep
the world supplied with energy, both today and tomorrow. The Group is also a
first rank player in chemicals. www.total.com
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