The Local France

Fire erupts at France's largest oil refinery

Sat, 14 Dec 2019 13:05:06 +0100

Firefighters brought a fire at the largest oil refinery in France under control Saturday, local officials said, hours after it started in the small hours of the morning.

French oil giant Total handed €500,000 fine over Iran corruption

Fri, 21 Dec 2018 17:07:20 +0100

A French court on Friday fined oil giant Total 500,000 euros ($575,000) for corruption after finding it guilty of paying bribes while bidding for a huge gas contract in Iran in 1997.

France's Total launches new $16bn Angola oil project

Sat, 10 Nov 2018 15:38:07 +0100

Angola and French oil giant Total formally launched a major new offshore oil project Saturday to aid the country's economy that plunged into crisis following oil price dips in 2014.

French firms big losers in Trump's new Iranian sanctions game

Sun, 05 Aug 2018 18:35:04 +0200

President Trump's decision to pull the US out of the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran and reimpose a raft of sanctions will hit a number of French and European businesses working in Iran.

Abu Dhabi awards France's Total stakes in oil concessions

Sun, 18 Mar 2018 15:23:30 +0100

Abu Dhabi state energy company ADNOC said on Sunday it had awarded French oil giant Total stakes in two offshore oil concessions, as it looks to boost production by year's end.

Russian court frees two over fatal Total boss jet crash

Sat, 08 Jul 2017 10:38:01 +0200

A Russian court on Friday freed on amnesty two men accused of causing the death of the head of French oil giant Total in 2014 when his jet crashed on takeoff from a Moscow airport.

France's Total sells North Sea gas assets

Thu, 27 Aug 2015 16:12:15 +0200

French oil giant Total announced on Thursday it had agreed to sell a North Sea gas terminal and two pipelines in a deal worth over $900 million in a move to help offset falling oil prices.

Four held in probe over French CEO's death

Thu, 23 Oct 2014 10:51:00 +0200

Four members of staff at Moscow airport, including air traffic controllers have been held in connection with a plane crash that killed the French CEO of oil giant Total Christophe de Margerie.

CEO's plane crash due to 'criminal negligence'

Tue, 21 Oct 2014 16:36:00 +0200

The Moscow air crash that killed Total's CEO Christophe de Margerie was caused by "criminal negligence" on the part of senior airport officials, Russian investigators said on Tuesday. Initial reports said the driver of a snow plough that collided with the plane had been drunk.

Total's French CEO killed in Moscow plane crash

Tue, 21 Oct 2014 10:33:00 +0200

The CEO of French oil company Total, Christophe de Margerie died in a plane crash at a Moscow airport after his private jet struck a snow plough on takeoff. Russian investigators said the driver of the snow plough was drunk.

France's Total 'to explore for UK shale gas'

Sat, 11 Jan 2014 14:08:00 +0100

Total, the French oil giant, is to become the first major firm to explore for shale gas in Britain, UK media reported on Saturday, despite a ban on exploration in France.

France's Total acquitted in Iraqi 'oil for food' case

Mon, 08 Jul 2013 16:43:00 +0200

French energy giant Total was acquitted by a court in Paris on Monday on charges of corruption and influence peddling relating to the United Nation's 'oil-for-food' programme in Iraq during the 1990s.

Total halts gas field expansion in Barents Sea

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 14:30:00 +0200

Norwegian oil company Statoil said Tuesday it and its partners Total and GDF Suez have decided to drop plans to expand the Snohvit natural gas field in the Barents Sea as unjustified given current discoveries.

Total chief warns against Arctic drilling

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 18:54:00 +0200

Oil companies should not drill for oil in Arctic waters, the head of French oil group Total, Christophe de Margerie, told the Financial Times in an interview published on its website on Wednesday.

French court upholds verdict in Total Erika disaster

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:10:00 +0200

France's top court on Tuesday upheld energy giant Total's conviction for negligence in a 1999 shipwreck and oil spill that blackened much of the country's Atlantic coastline.

Total subsidiary ex-head jailed over lethal blast

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 17:17:00 +0200

A French appeals court Monday sentenced a former boss of a subsidiary of oil giant Total to a year in prison for a 2001 chemical plant blast that killed 31 people.

Iraq tells Total: stop dealing with Kurds

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 16:37:35 +0200

Iraq on Sunday gave French energy giant Total an ultimatum to either end its dealings with the autonomous Kurdistan region in the north or to sell its stake in a giant southern oilfield.

Total announces major gas find in Caspian

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 11:50:00 +0200

French oil giant Total said on Friday it had found a major gas field in the Caspian sea off the coast of Azerbaijan.