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2007-11-12T08:32:00.000-08:00

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2007-08-03T22:25:00.000-07:00

A decade ago, when someone asked me if a high school student should have a credit card, my answer was a resounding "no." You might say I've made a 180-degree turn to the dark side.

No, I'm not getting paid by the credit card industry. I think those companies are a potentially dangerous enemy, and you have to prepare your child to be a worthy opponent in battle. You want them to conquer this prospective foe, and transform it into a humble servant that does their bidding.

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/moneyhappy/41146

Total to invest $5 bn in Shtokman field development in 5 years-CEO

2007-07-17T23:09:00.001-07:00

PARIS, July 16 (Itar-Tass) - Head of the French corporation Total Christophe de Margerie said in an interview published by Le Figaro-Economie newspaper on Monday that the company will invest in the development of the Shtokman offshore gas condensate deposit in the Barents Sea four-five billion US dollars over five years.

Russia’s natural gas monopoly Gazprom and France’s Total signed an agreement on Friday under which the French company gets 25 percent of stocks of the operator of the first phase of the Shtokman field development. Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Gazprom Alexander Medvedev told journalists that the preliminary cost of the first stage of the field development will be 15 billion dollars.

De Margerie disproved statements that the participation in the project for the field exploitation without holding the license for the development of natural deposits presents a financial risk. “There is nothing unusual in such situation,” he stressed. “We have been long participating in the world in the development of fields that are fully owned by the state and national companies,” he said.

According to the Total head, the company’s agreement with Russia’s Gazprom on the Shtokman offshore natural gas field is “very important.”

“The agreement on the Shtokman field is undoubtedly within the category of such accords that meet the strategy of the development of the corporation on the condition that they correspond to our criteria of profitability, ethics of business relations, requirements in the sphere of the environment protection and make it possible to diversify our order portfolio simultaneously promoting the formation of strategic partnership with important players of the world market,” stressed the Total CEO.

The Total head pointed out that the Shtokman field is of major interest from the viewpoint of its size, which is of big importance “in the conditions of rapidly growing consumption of natural gas in the world.” According to him, Total also intends to gain valuable experience during the exploitation of the field “of work in extreme natural conditions.”

Margerie assessed the tentative volume of Total investments in the project at four-five billion US dollars during a five-year term.

He particularly noted that Total “seeks to expand cooperation with Russia, the same as with other countries, in normal microeconomic conditions that greatly depend in the energy sector on macroeconomic factors.” “We also intend to conclude other agreements with Russia. The conclusion of the agreement on the Shtokman field will promote the intensification of our cooperation with Gazprom,” the Total head pointed out.

Gazprom has chosen Total of France as the foreign partner for the first phase of the implementation of the project for the development of the Shtokman offshore natural gas field in the Barents Sea.

The first phase of the development of the field (ahead of the setting up of the company with Total) envisages the recovery of 23.7 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year, half of which will be supplied though the Nord Stream pipeline and 7.5 million tonnes - in the form of liquefied natural gas. Among the possible consumers are European countries, as well as countries of the Atlantic basin, including the United States. The second and third phases of the Shtokman field development that envisage the recovery volume of at least 71.6 billion cubic metres of gas, and the fourth phase - up to 94 billion cubic metres “will be implemented by Gazprom independently.”

For the organisation of the design, financing and construction within the project framework Gazprom and Total will establish a special purpose company that will later become the owner of the infrastructure of the first phase of the development of the Shtokman gas field. Gazprom’s share in the authorised capital of the company that is being set up will be 75 percent and Total will have a 25-percent stake in it.

A possibility of the attraction of one more or several foreign partners for a 24-percent stake is envisaged by means of the lowering of Gazprom’s share. In any case, Gazprom will reserve at least a 51-percent stake in the special purpose company, will be the holder of the license for the field development and will be the owner of the whole volume of recovered hydrocarbons.

The company that is being created will be the owner of the infrastructure within 25 years from the moment of the putting of the field into operation, and after the completion of the first phase of the Shtokman field exploitation Total will give up its share to Gazprom.

The field is located in the central part of the shelf of the Russian sector of the Barents Sea. The reserves approved by the State Commission for Natural Deposits of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources in January 2006 amount to 3.7 trillion cubic metres of natural gas and over 31 million tonnes of gas condensate.

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Total to invest $5 bn in Shtokman field development in 5 years-CEO