TOTAL SA (TOT) reported third-quarter earnings of €0.84 per share ($1.20 per share), above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.12 and second-quarter profit of €0.77. However, earnings declined from €1.81 reported a year ago. Earnings improved sequentially based on higher production, better realizations and lower costs.   Total revenues declined 31% from the year-ago quarter but improved 7% sequentially to €33.6 billion. The decline was caused mainly by lower realized oil and gas prices in the Upstream segment, reduced throughput volumes in the Downstream segment and a revenue decline at the chemicals segment.   Total hydrocarbon production averaged 2,243 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (MBOE) per day, up 0.5% from last year and 2.8% from the previous quarter. The increase was mainly due to production improvements and start-ups of new fields; offset by OPEC reductions and lower gas demand, disruptions in Nigeria, and changes in portfolio essentially in ...

Interesting piece from MEED vis a vis Tripoli’s $54bn, 20-year commitment to develop joint ventures with multinational firms in order to transform the Gulf of Sitre–and namely the oil-rich industrial cities of Marsa el-Brega and Ras Lanuf–into energy hubs founded on oil and gas processing and distribution, as well as into a resort destination.  The two cities lack proper downstream investment, but the potential returns on FDI are enormous, gushed a source from the U.S. engineering firm Fluor Corporation, which was commissioned to oversee the project:

“Libya is virgin territory. It is coming out of a long embargo so there are great opportunities. The energy cities have these anchor investments but also provide for secondary industries, which take products from the heavy industries and produce plastics, for example. They also provide work for industrial and construction services. There is a much greater, wider and more open opportunity for investment, from oil

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In a case brought to light by Hermitage Capital Management's campaign to expose state corruption in Russia, Viktor Markelov has pleaded guilty to 'fraud by prior collusion by a group of persons and in an especially large amount' in a Moscow court.  Hermitage, meanwhile, has sent out a new letter to six government agencies alleging that senior Kremlin officials have 'conspired with a private gang' to steal $230 million from the Russian treasury.  Bloomberg and The Times of London report the figure as $381 million, the Moscow Times as less than a quarter of that sum.  AvtoVAZ workers are rallying for the company's nationalization.  Swiss engineering firm ABB says it is reassessing its business model in Russia, owing to increased operating costs.  Is Russian oligarch Mikhail D. Prokhorov planning to buy a ...

According to Bloomberg, Russia will soon recommence asset sales to offset its first budget deficit in ten years.  Russian Railways head Vladimir Yakunin told the Reuters Russia Investment Summit that the state will need an even bigger role in financial affairs because of the economic crisis.  Mikhail Gorbachev has criticized Vladimir Putin for not using the boom years of flowing petrodollars to modernize the economy.  Rusal's Libya excursion was apparently an attempt to sell 10% of the company to the Libyan Investment Authority.  The Moscow Times has an op-ed piece on the perils of being a small business in Russia.  Tagaz has denied that it stole the technological design of the Chevrolet Lacetti to make its own equivalent sedan.  In August retail sales declined by 9.8%, the sharpest drop in ten years.  The biggest maker ...

Repsol YPF S.A. (REP) recently found a huge gas resource in shallow waters of the Gulf of Venezuela. The largest integrated oil and gas company in Spain said that the offshore field had an estimated area of 33 square kilometers and was 60 meters deep.

Along with its exploration partner Italy's Eni SPA (E), Repsol estimates that the discovery could hold between 7 and 8 trillion cubic feet of gas. This equals to more than five years of gas consumption in Spain.

While the two companies will have a 32.5% interest each in all future productions, Venezuela's state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA would hold a 35% stake.

Repsol is targeting stable production growth driven by pipeline projects in Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Libya, Bolivia, Argentina and Ecuador. Long-term growth is expected to come from opportunities in Trinidad and Tobago, Algeria, the US Gulf of Mexico,

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It's September again, and that means the children are heading off to school, and the birds - heading south. And, as tradition goes, Comandante Chávez has embarked on a world tour. This time, the Lt. Col. - the leader of the Bolivarian revolution - visited Libya, where he observed the 40th anniversary in power of another colonel, Muammar Qaddafi. Then - Algeria. Then - he went to Iran. Then - popped into Turkmenistan, which, it seems, turned out to have been a surprise for president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow [We are using the spelling the Turkmens themselves use as they switch from Cyrillic to Latin script, instead of "Berdymukhamedov", which is actually a transcription from Russian--Ed.].

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Government-owned National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), the nation’s second-largest bank by assets and largest by market value, was ranked among the 50 safest banks in the world in 2009, per Global Finance. The annual ratings compare the long-term credit ratings and total assets of the 500 largest banks around the world.  This on the heels of a second-quarter profit fall of 9.3% from a year ago (though net profits were up 17.7% from the first quarter).

Earlier this month NBAD formally announced its intentions to not only double its operations in Egypt, but also to expand into the “fast-growing” Indian market.  Earlier this year, the government-owned bank set up a representative office in Libya, with the aim of strengthening its presence in that country and North Africa.  And sources also suggested last month that the bank, which already has three outlets in Sudan, plans to be one

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Spain’s largest integrated oil and gas company, Repsol YPF, S.A. (REP), will pay Venezuela $203 million to exploit the Barua-Motatan oil field. Repsol took the minority share of this oil field, which includes 432 square kilometers, after lawmakers voted for the transfer of that area to Petroquiriquire, a joint venture between Repsol and the Venezuelan Oil Corporation (CVP), a unit of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA. Repsol has been pursuing talks for several years on acquiring an interest in Barua-Motatan, located near Petroquiriquire’s Mene Grande oil field in western Venezuela. Petroquiriquire was formed in 2006 as a 60-40 joint venture between PDVSA and Repsol to operate the Mene Grande oil field. With the addition of this field, the current production of 25,000 barrels per day could increase up to 100,000 barrels per day. Management is targeting stable production growth, driven by the company’s pipeline ...

Reconstructing an oil deposit consumed by fire in the north Siberia's Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area will cost $48 million.  Despite the huge blaze, pipeline operator Transneft says that regional oil supplies are secure.  The conflagration was blamed on a lightning strike.  Further details on the Russia-Mongolia uranium deal, which apparently settled a $150 million debt owed to Moscow, are to be on Reuters.  The Dornad deposit at the center of the deal supposedly holds seven times as much uranium as Russia mined last year.  Taftnet has struck oil in Libya's Ghadames Basin.  RusHydro is hoping to raise electricity rates over what is permitted by the government in order to rebuild its Siberian power plant.  TNK-BP is hoping to recover $204 million from the Federal Customs Service for overpaid customs duties.  Pipeline maker Transneft may sell $1.12 ...

New York-based Hess Corporation (HES) is an integrated oil company engaged in oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) and refining as well as marketing. The company's E&P activities are concentrated in the U.S., Europe, Africa and Asia. Hess' exposure to areas with high resource potential, such as Brazil, Ghana and offshore Australia, make its near-term production growth outlook positive.

We are optimistic about the company's forward drilling program, which we expect will include several appraisal wells on the WA-390-P block in offshore Australia (with 100% interest) following last year's successful exploration program. The company also has an appraisal well in offshore Libya towards year-end.

We continue to see upstream momentum on the back of the company's large inventory of exploration and development projects. In the recently-completed quarter, total production increased nearly 4% from the year-earlier level to 407,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. We believe that the stronger

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