Total E&P Head: Confirms Plan For GDF Suez To Join Absheron
April 02 2009 - 12:49PM
Dow Jones News
French oil major Total SA (TOT) plans for GDF Suez SA (GSZ.FR)
to join it on Azerbaijan's Absheron exploration block, Total's head
of exploration and production confirmed Thursday.
The confirmation comes after a GDF Suez executive told Dow Jones
Newswires on March 19 that the utility plans to join Total on the
block with a "small stake."
Total's Yves-Louis Darricarrere, who was speaking to reporters
on the sidelines of an oil conference, didn't give details of the
stake GDF Suez could get, but emphasized that it was a partnership
rather than a simple sale.
"Actually speaking it's not selling," he said, adding it was
about "forming a partnership with GDF Suez on this permit."
In other remarks, Darricarrere said Total was "concerned by the
contractual evolution in Nigeria," and that the company was
studying possible changes to oil-sector regulation in the country,
where it has exploration and production interests.
-By Adam Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires, +33 1 40171756;
adam.mitchell@dowjones.com