Total has renewed its technical assistance contract with state-owned Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), responsible for the upstream activity in Koweit.

Under the contract, initially signed in 1997 and previously renewed in 2001, Total provides its expertise to KOC related, among others, to the oil production of fields in the Saudi Arabia-Kuwait Neutral Zone and the exploration of onshore Kuwait.

The contract enables Total to more effectively assess the country's high-potential upstream segment. Total is also a partner in the ChevronTexaco-led consortium that is competing with two other consortiums to open oil exploration in northern Kuwait to foreign companies.