TotalFinaElf through Elf Exploration Inc., the US oil and gas subsidiary of Elf Aquitaine, announces that the Aconcagua appraisal well is successful, confirming the deep offshore discovery made on Mississippi Canyon 305 in January 1999, in the Gulf of Mexico.

Elf Exploration Inc. is the operator (50%) of Mississippi Canyon 305 with Pioneer Natural Resources USA, Inc. (25%) and Mariner Energy, Inc. (25%) as partners.

The well was drilled in about 7,000 feet of water to a total-measured depth of 14,113 feet and encountered over 250 net feet of gas pay. The well confirms that the reservoirs found in the discovery well extend approximately 2 miles to the northeast.

Aconcagua is one of several deepwater natural gas fields to be included in the recently announced Canyon Express joint subsea development project. It is anticipated that production will flow to the Elf-operated Virgo platform in Viosca Knoll 823 with start-up planned for late 2001.

This new success confirms the Upstream strategy of TotalFinaElf in the US, which is focused mainly on exploring deep offshore basins in the Gulf of Mexico. TotalFinaElf is present on more than 180 blocks in this region, where several discoveries have already been made. Along with the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, it is considered one of the most promising basins.

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TotalFinaElf (NYSE : TOT), the world’s fourth largest oil and gas company, is the result of the combination of Totalfina and Elf Aquitaine. The new group holds approximately 95% of the share capital of Elf Aquitaine (NYSE : ELF)