Natural Gas

Gas markets have experienced radical shifts in just a few years, as physical flows grow more diverse and complex, customers acquire the freedom to choose their suppliers, and new operators as well as more flexible contracts and marketing channels emerge.

This is the brave new world in which we are expanding our gas trading and marketing activities, to optimize the value of our production and respond effectively to the various expectations of our end customers, in particular industry and business.

A solid commercial presence in several key markets

Total took the measure of this new environment very early on, and solidified our commercial foothold, especially in several major European and North American markets.

In the United Kingdom, the teams at our subsidiary Total Gas & Power Ltd have put together a range of innovative products and services designed for a fully deregulated market. Their expertise and skills have been applied to expand gas marketing in other countries as deregulation spreads.

We are now the second-largest supplier of industrial and commercial customers in the U.K., with 20% of the market, more than 60,000 sites served and sales of 3.8 billion cubic meters in 2008. In France, our subsidiary Total Énergie Gaz (Tegaz) marketed 6.5 billion cubic meters of gas to consumers in 2008, and is aiming to lift its market share rapidly, from 10% to 15% or more. In Spain, Cepsa Gas Commercializadora — in which we directly and indirectly hold an interest of 52% — sold around 2 billion cubic meters to industrial and commercial customers in 2008, capturing a market share of 5%.

In North America, Total trades gas in Mexico, via Gas del Litoral (Total 25%), and especially in the United States, where our subsidiary Total Gas & Power North America sold nearly 47 billion cubic meters in 2008, produced by Total or sourced externally. An illustration of the synergies created by our presence across the gas chain, trading is poised to grow thanks to the LNG from plants in Africa and the Middle East in which we are a partner.

We are also active in trading in Asia, dealing both in pipe gas and LNG, notably in Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, India and other emerging markets.

We also sell gas as part of multi-energy package solutions (gas and power) available in Europe, North America and Asia to meet the needs of all customer segments, whether business or consumer.

Trading, playing a vital broking and arbitrage function

By maximizing the value of our production, optimizing flow management, securing supplies and margins, providing customers and Total units with effective solutions for hedging against price fluctuations and helping them leverage the possibilities offered by physical and paper markets, gas and LNG trading plays a decisive role in today’s more open, more competitive environment.

Based in London, Houston and Hong Kong, Total’s specialized teams are leading traders in those major global marketplaces. Their recognized expertise covers the full gamut of arbitraging and physical, price and credit risk management.

In the LNG field, for example, the latest trend is to mix long-term, short-term and spot purchase portfolios, for both consumers and producers. This mix strengthens our ability to guarantee gas supplies to our customers, wherever they may be. At the same time, it gives us the flexibility we need to react to unexpected opportunities and supply and demand fluctuations.