Elf notes with satisfaction today's decision by the Court of Appeals which rejects the request made by TotalFina for the suspension of Elf Aquitaine's offer for TotalFina's shares. The Court acknowledged the decision by the Conseil des Marchés Financiers (CMF) to set the closing date of Elf's offer at least eight days following the final decision by the Court of Appeals.

Elf considers that this decision both protects the market and is in line with the Court of Appeals' decision on August 18, regarding TotalFina's offer for Elf.

Elf considers that this decision also safeguards shareholders' interests by giving them a reasonable period of time to examine and assess the two proposed offers.

In addition, the Court of Appeals has decided to align the hearing dates regarding the acceptability of the two offers for October 7.

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This document is neither an offer to exchange or sell nor a solicitation of an offer to exchange or buy any of the securities mentioned herein, and the Offer to which this document relates is not being made in any jurisdiction in which the making or acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities laws of the jurisdiction.

This document may contain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations, business, strategy and plans of the Elf Group. In particular, statements using the words "expects", "anticipates", and similar expressions, and statements with regards to management goals and objectives, expected or targeted production data, trends in results of operations, margins, or the expected benefits of the tender offer referred to herein are forward-looking in nature. Such statements are based on a number of assumptions that could ultimately prove inaccurate, and are subject to a number of risk factors, including currency fluctuations, the price of petroleum products, the ability to realize cost reductions and operating efficiencies without unduly disrupting business operations, environmental regulatory considerations and general economic and business conditions. The Group does not assume any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Further information on factors which could affect the company's financial results is provided in documents filed with the Commission des Opérations de Bourse and the US Securities and Exchange Commission.