TOTAL reported 1998 first half consolidated sales of 82.3 billion French francs (FF) compared to 96.3 billion FF reported for the 1997 first half, a decrease of 14.5 percent. Excluding the merged TOPNA unit, consolidated sales declined by 8.4 percent.
| Millions of French francs |
1st Half 1998 |
1st Half 1997 |
% |
| UPSTREAM (1) |
16,240 |
17,945 |
- 9.5% |
| DOWNSTREAM |
58,277 |
73,863 |
-21.1% |
| CHEMICALS |
16,037 |
14,136 |
+13.4% |
| Holding |
1,045 |
939 |
n.m. |
| Consolidation elimination |
(9,255) |
(10,554) |
n.m. |
CONSOLIDATED SALES
of internal sales (2) |
82,344 |
96,329 |
-14.5% |
| CONSOLIDATED SALES (3) (excluding TOPNA) |
82,344 |
89,869 (2) |
-8.4% |
(1) Upstream sales include external sales primarily of natural gas and LPG, and internal sales to the Downstream segment of crude oil produced by the company and generally sold through the Trading Division.
(2) The consolidation eliminations represent primarily the sales of crude oil by the Upstream segment to the Downstream segment.
(3) TOTAL Petroleum North America (TOPNA) was merged with Ultramar Diamond Shamrock in September 1997 and TOTAL ceased to consolidate TOPNA on the same date. TOPNA had 1997 half year sales of 6,460 million FF.
The 8.4% decrease in the Group's consolidated sales (excluding TOPNA/UDS) resulted primarily from a drop in Brent crude price between the two periods ($ 13.65/barrel versus $ 19.58/barrel, a decline of 30 percent), partially offset by an increase in the dollar exchange rate (6.06 FF versus 5.69 FF) and volume growth in all the segments.
Upstream sales decreased by 9.5 percent, with production growth and the stronger dollar partially compensating for the effect of lower oil and gas prices.
Excluding TOPNA, Downstream sales decreased by 13.5%. Increased sales volumes, higher trading activity and the stronger dollar offset by more than one third the negative impact of lower prices for crude oil and refined products.
Chemicals sales rose by 13.4 percent. The increase was due for more than 50% to external growth in the different specialty sectors. The balance resulted from internal growth and positive foreign currency effects. |
