In 2007, Total once again recorded very good results. Adjusted income came to €12.2 billion, or earnings per share of €5.37.
The dividend proposed to the General Meeting of Shareholders by the Board of Directors is €2.07 per share, an increase of 11% on the 2006 dividend.

The business environment during 2007 was generally favourable, with oil prices rising and refining margins satisfactory, although volatile. On the other hand, petrochemicals margins decreased markedly at the end of the year.

The dollar depreciated by 8% against the euro during the year.

Total’s performance in 2007 is mainly due to its strategy of profitable growth and its ongoing efforts to improve performance.

In the Upstream, the Group posted the highest production growth of all the majors. Overall hydrocarbon production came to 2.39 million barrels per day, an increase of 1.5% on 2006.

Exploration teams were very successful, contributing 1 billion barrels to Total’s potential reserves.

In Refining & Marketing and Chemicals, ongoing productivity programmes and investments aimed at upgrading plants and driving growth helped maintain profitability at good levels.

Safety, also, remains a major factor when measuring performance, and Total managed to reduce its accident rate by 20% during 2007 – the fruit of concerted efforts made over the last five years.

2007 also provided further evidence of Total’s ability to carry out major industrial projects on schedule. In the Upstream segment, 2007 highlights included the ramp-up in production from Dalia as well as the start-up of Rosa, also in Angola, and Dolphin in Qatar.

In the Downstream segment, after commissioning the new hydrocracker at the Normandy refinery in France at the end of 2006, the Group made several new investments.

At the end of 2007, Petrochemicals finished debottlenecking the Qapco steam cracker in Qatar, in which Total is a 20% partner.

World demand for oil and gas is expected to continue to grow during the next few years. Meeting that demand will require major investments, together with technical excellence and innovation.

If Total is to continue to develop, at the required pace, the new resources that will be needed to satisfy growing demand,  producing countries must agree to give us greater access to these resources. To do this they must feel it is in their interest. Total is working to this end, not only by offering its expertise, but also by its willingness to understand the needs of host countries, its efforts to build close partnerships with major national companies in producing countries and to contribute to local socio-economic development.

Its efforts in technological know-how, the Group is now committed to greater development of non-conventional resources such as extra-heavy crudes, sour gas, deeply-buried deposits and Arctic fields such as Shtokman where Total is partnering Gazprom.

Lastly, the issue of climate change is now of urgent concern to all. Total is contributing here in a number of ways: by improving the energy efficiency of our own facilities, by helping our customers to improve their use of the energy they get from us, by contributing to development of lower-carbon energies, and by proposing solutions that reconcile use of fossil fuels with the safeguard of the Earth’s climate.

The challenges we face in the coming years are more numerous than ever. I am convinced that Total employees, with their expertise and their solidarity, will manage to rise to these challenges, knowing that they can rely on the sound financial base of their company and the confidence of its shareholders.

Thierry Desmarest
Chairman of Total's Board of Directors

Source : Total in 2007